Creep
by Spinestalker
Summary: Roxas didn't expect to enjoy his date with the creep Axel, but after the tangle web of lies and betrayals of trust, maybe he should reconsider who really is the creep. Akuroku, AU
1. Such a Creep

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Roxas, Axel or anything but a well loved notebook and a pink pen.

**Warnings:** Over all delinquency, language and sexual situations between two boys.

**Chapter 1**

He could feel the eyes burning on the back of his neck. He lifted his hand, scratching the skin as if he could somehow shoo the gaze away like it were a buzzing fly. His right leg bounced under the desk causing the seat to clatter incessantly and his left hand was busy drawing various symmetrical shapes into his paper with enough force to cause the ink to leak through three pages down.

"Mr. Strife, stop rattling your desk." Roxas jerked his head to the teacher in surprise, his leg freezing in place. Mrs. Trepe looked at him over the rim of her glasses and he quickly retreated his leg, forcing his left leg to cross over the offending appendage in a silent promise that he would keep it still.

"Sorry," he offered. She took his apology and turned her attention back to the papers she was grading, either unaware or unconcerned for his initial distress.

In the back of the room the other guy kept staring.

Detention wasn't something Roxas often graced, actually he hadn't had detention since 7th grade and, though he didn't remember the reason, he was sure it was Sora, Hayner or someone else's fault. He was a good student and it wasn't his fault his brother and best friends were delinquents. This visit had been all Roxas's doing, though he silently felt the teacher should get more blame then he was giving him. He had been late to class on a day when Mr. Kramer had been in a particularly bad mood.

There was the sound of a sigh from behind him and he took comfort that he wasn't alone, at least. Kairi had apparently suffered the same a fate and was currently sitting three desks behind him. Four other students were spread out here and there, at least two desks between them, as per the teacher's orders.

In the far back to the left was a guy with wild red hair and freaky green eyes.

Eyes that were glued to Roxas.

He shifted in his seat and had to flex his calf muscle painfully to keep it from twitching. The slowly ticking clock displayed that he still had 30 minutes left.

He reached down into his bag at his left, eyes quickly glancing back at the offending guy. The red head quickly looked away, pretending to take interest at a desk that sat in front of Roxas. Feeling himself grow intensely annoyed but not wanting to make a scene, or risk a second detention, he just pulled his history book out and opened it to glare at an unflattering portrait of some Arabian king.

He had no idea what the guy's problem was but Roxas could feel his fuse burning down to a nub. He didn't know what he had done to warrant this, hell he wasn't even sure who he was. He was confident the strange kid wasn't a Freshmen like he was but he was pretty sure he should have known his name, he had seen Hayner's brother with him several times, but for the life of him he couldn't think what it was.

Alex maybe? No something weird and short… Ace? That still didn't sound right. Maybe it was Alex…

There was a sudden pitch in his desk from the desk behind him lurching forward. He turned around in surprised and shot Kairi a look. Her eyes quickly diverted to the teacher then back to him.

"Check your cell," she mouthed, lifting her pinky and thumb to her cheek like it were a phone.

Roxas turned back around and once he was sure the sound hadn't garnered any unwanted attention from the teacher he pulled out his silenced phone from his pocket to read that he had gotten a text message from Kairi.

_Axel has been staring at you this whole t__ime! _

AXEL! That was his name!

Using his book as cover and keeping a watchful eye on Mrs. Trepe he quickly typed out a reply.

_I know! WTF is up w/ him?_

He sent the message, relaxing some now that he knew at least Kairi had noticed. Even still it was annoying.

He glanced back again and his eyes met Axel's blank thoughtful look, but this time Axel didn't look away and didn't seem to notice Roxas was returning his gaze.

With a huff Roxas looked back to his cell phone, where he had received a new message.  
_  
Be careful. He's a freak._

That was just great, not that he hadn't already guessed that. Roxas didn't reply and only slipped his phone in his pocket, not wanting to risk getting it taken away. He definitely decided Axel was a creep. He had tattoos on his face and he knew for a fact that Hayner's brother did drugs; he wouldn't put it past Axel that he did the same.

Deciding to be the bigger man he focused on his book, turning to the chapter his homework was in. Axel continued to stare but Roxas found it easier to ignore as he set his attention on his homework.

The last 20 minutes passed faster than the first 40 and by the time the teacher announced the end of detention Roxas had already finished his work and had started reading the captions for the pictures in his history book to pass time. He snapped his papers in his book and shoved it carelessly into his bag.

"I'll walk with you home," Kairi said as she stood up, putting her arm in the strap of her bag. Roxas cast a glance at Axel who, for once, wasn't looking at him.

He looked back at her and smiled. "You don't have to do that. I can take care of myself." Besides, he mentally added, if Axel was going to start something Kairi's presence would do little to deter it.

Then again, Axel didn't know Kairi when she went into mother hen mode.

"I know, but I want to, just in case. Besides I told Sora I'd head over there after detention."

He suspected she was lying but he just smiled at her and appreciatively accepted her company. She was Roxas's friend only through Sora but he would enjoy the companionship on the walk home anyways. He stood up, tossing his bag over his shoulder. Axel had already left by the time he and Kairi made their way to the door.

"So did you have fun fall break?" he asked casually and she nodded.

"Yeah, we went to my grandma's Hollow Bastion, you know it actually snows there! In the fall!"

"Yeah, we never get snow," he complained and held the door open for her.

"Except for the most inopportune times like non school days…" Kairi trailed off as she stepped into the hall. Axel was standing in the hallway and immediately straightened his shoulders as soon as he spotted Roxas.

"Hey, Roxas…" Roxas blinked, keeping the surprise at Axel even knowing his name to himself. Axel looked at Kairi nervously then back to Roxas.

"So... um…" Axel started diverting his eyes away and pushed his hands into the pockets of his ripped jeans. He looked vulnerable and... kinda cute, in that _I may bring a gun to school and kill you all kinda_ punk way. "Can I talk to you...?"

Roxas shifted on his feet and shrugged his backpack strap to a more comfortable position on his shoulder. It didn't look like Axel was going to attack him, though he looked like he might run away.

"Yeah, um sure." He looked at Kairi awkwardly. "Go on, I'll catch up with you."

Kairi gave him a look that clearly said she thought this was a bad idea but uncertainly agreed. "Okay... I'll wait at my locker." Roxas nodded and she started to move, the first few steps hesitant before she finally walked away, casting nervous glances back at them until she turned the corner and was out of sight.

He turned his attention back to Axel who was picking at the chipped black polish on his nails. He was clearly nervous and it only made Roxas more anxious as what felt like magma started to churn in his stomach. "So, what's up?"

"Well… I've been meaning to talk to you for a while now but haven't really had the chance…" Axel gave a chuckle that sounded more like a sharp exhale of breath. He shifted on his feet and shoved his hands back in his pockets again. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to, I don't know, hang out or something?"

Roxas felt his jaw go slack, completely blindsided by Axel's question. His brain blanked out, trying to wrap reasoning around what just happened. Axel was from another world, from his insane red hair to his dingy Chucks. If it weren't for this very moment the two of them would have probably went their whole lives without ever speaking.

Roxas didn't even know what he was supposed to say. He hadn't really had any clue that Axel was even remotely gay, much less interested in him.

"Well, I've kinda got plans…" he lied, knowing that he really didn't but when Axel's face dropped Roxas felt a searing pain in his chest. This must have taken a lot of nerve on Axel's part, Roxas hung out with people that made fun of Axel's type and the only time he could have asked was if he could catch him away from them. "But," he quickly added, "tomorrow's Saturday so... tomorrow?" He regretted it as soon as the words left his tongue but his desire to not hurt his feelings were overpowering.

Axel's entire demeanor changed, his face all but lighting up. The weight in Roxas's chest dispersed and he managed to take in a deep breath.

"Cool…" Axel bounced a little on his feet and Roxas actually smiled, albeit it was a little crooked. "Can I have your number.." Roxas watched as he pulled a pen out of his pants pocket and offered it to him as well as his hand, the apparent writing pad. Roxas scribbled his cell number on the skin of his palm with a hand he tried desperately to keep from shaking. There was a brief glimpse of white marks on his wrist but Roxas only barely registered them in his nervousness.

"I don't usually get to sleep till pretty late so whenever is cool," he told Axel, handing him back his pen.

Axel nodded, a sideways smile on his face. "Okay, cool."

He stepped back from Axel, not having much of a good reply past nodding himself. "Cool." He said then felt stupid for saying cool again. He waved a bit awkwardly, feeling his cheeks warm. "Talk to you later…"

"Later."

Roxas quickly turned and headed down the hall, blood rushing to his face making him feel dizzy. He had a hard time believing AXEL had asked him out and an even harder time believing he had said yes. It was beyond logic.

But Roxas of all people knew better then to judge someone and he felt guilty for thinking Axel was a freak before. When he had came out two years ago the backlash he had gotten from people who didn't even know him had been hard to swallow but the support had far outweighed the hate. Aside from the occasional random stupid people most everyone left him alone now.

Kairi was waiting at the end of the lockers, looking worried, when she spotted him and he looked unharmed she relaxed significantly.

"So what did he want?"

Roxas was about to open his mouth and tell her when something in the back of his mind quickly changed it. "Nothing really," he said, surprised at his sudden unwillingness to share the news. "It was just... weird."

Kairi let out a bark of a laugh. "You tell me! I was worried to death. I was sure I was going to have to call someone to come and help us kick Axel's butt!"

"No, it was nothing violent," he assured her and started walking, not looking her in the face.

"God, he is such a creep." She shook her head. Roxas bit his tongue and was glad he hadn't told her.


	2. Your Voice Sounds Good Over the Phone

**Chapter 2**

Roxas realized just how flimsy his lie had been as soon as Kairi burst out the story about Axel when they got to his house. Sora gave him a wide eyed look and leaned across the couch as if he were going to hear a deep dark secret.

"What did he want?"

Roxas kept his eyes glued to the glowing of his phone, pointedly not looking at his twin. He pretended to be doing something important, but was really just randomly flipping through the menu. "Nothing really. He just kinda changed his mind about what he was gonna say and left." He pulled his knees to his chest and tried to bury himself in the white overstuffed arm chair.

Lying to Kairi had been easy enough but lying to Sora was a bit trickier. They had always had an eerie sixth sense regarding the other and like Sora couldn't lie to Roxas, Roxas couldn't lie to Sora. Sora was silent and he could see the scrutinizing look his brother was giving him from the corner of his eye. He didn't look up as he knew looking Sora in the eye would only substantiate Sora's suspicions.

Not that not looking him in the eye helped anything.

"But I wonder what it was..." Kairi looked at Roxas, her brow creased. His stomach flipped as his brain mapped out all the better lies he could have came up with. Changed his mind… that was the dumbest thing ever.

"Well whatever." Sora finally looked away. "What's going on tonight?" He replied, deftly changed the subject. Roxas relaxed some with a deep breath and closed his phone, feeling silly playing with his phone and moved his attention moved to TV without actually seeing what was on.

Telling Sora was still up in the air. While keeping anything from his twin felt unnatural, he also knew Sora had a predisposition to overreact and give into his friend's judgment before forming his own. He was a good person, but tended to trust other people and their opinions wholeheartedly. From the reaction he had from Kairi's story, it was apparent that he already thought Axel was some creep.

He couldn't tell Sora. He would never live down accepting a date from the weird kid at school.

He huffed a little, his brow drawing in annoyance, as he felt irritated at the thought of what Sora might do or say. He could easily see his brother stalking the shadows, following him and Axel, randomly appearing with a shovel, ready to knock out and bury Axel for even looking at Roxas with interest that wasn't innocent.

Because that was EXACTLY something Sora would do; in fact, he had done something very similar when Kairi went on her first date. It had taken Kairi a month to talk to him again.

Telling Sora was defiantly not going to happen, not that it would matter. Roxas really didn't see this date lasting past the first one. He and Axel couldn't possibly have anything in common. He would go because he didn't have the balls to tell Axel no, and it would be awkward and Axel would see that this just wasn't going to work.

Though he had to admit to himself he was excited at the prospect of actually going on a date. Being one of the few gay kids in town, he didn't exactly get asked out much.

"You up for it Roxas?"

Roxas jerked his head to Kairi who was standing up, pulling her bag over her shoulder. He looked at Sora, confused, then back to her. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

Kairi and Sora shared a worried look with each other before looking back at him. "We are having a movie thing tomorrow; just a bunch of us goofing around watching stupid movies on Tidus's dad's new big screen TV. His parents are gonna be outta town. Hopefully Hayner will score some booze, because the movies they were talking about are all gonna suck," she explained.

"Um, yeah sure," he said, though he realized there could be a time conflict. If anything he could use them as an excuse to ditch Axel if things got too awkward.

Kairi smiled, "Cool, I'll text you guys the decided time." She headed to the door, tossing them a casual wave. They listened to her shoes click on the tile before the door opened. As soon as the door closed Sora launched himself to the side of the couch closer to Roxas.

"So, what REALLY happened?" Sora had a no nonsense look on his face that Roxas frowned at. Sora looked genuinely concerned and he knew he wasn't going to take "nothing" as an answer.

With a long sigh to buy himself time, he spit out the first thing that came to him. Roxas was one of the few freshmen that were taking an advanced algebra class; most all the others were sophomore and juniors. Assuming Axel was the same age as Hayner's brother, then as a sophomore he would likely be taking some form of algebra.

"Axel asked me to tutor him in algebra."

Sora still looked doubtful and for a moment he thought his brother was going to express doubt as to the truth of what Roxas said. Demons gnawed on the guilt building up in his stomach. Lying to Sora felt vaguely like flu symptoms.

"Why didn't you just tell Kairi that? It sounded like she was pretty scared Axel was gonna start something." Sora said with a hard voice, his eyes trained on Roxas's face. Roxas didn't dare to look and instead busied himself with untying his shoes.

Sora probably didn't believe him but he wasn't about to feed any suspicions his brother was fostering so he shrugged casually, continuing with the lie. "Axel was nervous about asking me to begin with and wanted me to keep it quiet. So don't tell anyone, please. Axel's really trusting me with this."

Sora nodded, finally breaking his eyes away from Roxas and reached for the remote on the coffee table. "Yeah, yeah, I don't tell Kairi everything. I'll keep quiet, but if he starts something, I'm gonna kick his ass." There was a warning tone in Sora's voice that confirmed Roxas's suspicions.

"I am perfectly capable of kicking his ass myself." Glad that Sora wasn't pushing it, he propped his socked feet on the table, relaxing a significant more than before.

"I know," Sora granted, "but I'll get him after you. He's a Class A Weirdo anyways. I'm sure lots of people would help."

* * *

It was midnight when his phone vibrated violently on his bedside table. Roxas had just started to doze off, but the buzzing of his phone jerked him awake. He had it in his hand and to his ear before he even had the chance to realize he was answering his phone. He had started to doubt Axel was going to call at all, thinking maybe he had chickened out of their agreed "hanging out" date, but when he heard Axel's voice he sat up, his chest filling with nervous tension at actually having Axel on the other end of the phone.

"Sorry I'm calling so late," came the voice, it was soft and slow and sounded very little like it had at school. "My sister wouldn't get off the phone." Axel's voice was deep and melodic, though Roxas couldn't decide if it was because of the phone or because Axel was high. Either way, he was surprised at how warm it made him feel.

"That's cool. I wasn't asleep anyways," he lied. An awkward silence broke the conversation for several heartbeats before Roxas dared to speak again. "So what's up?"

"Ahh…" Axel started, his voice almost reverberating like a purr over the phone. "I can't tell you that," he teased.

Roxas blinked in the darkness of his room, surprised at how sensual the other's voice had sounded. He knew he probably should have been crept out by the insinuation, but the tone actually caught Roxas off guard and a pleasant familiar tingling started to quickly build between his legs. He took a deep breath and held it for a heartbeat, scared to respond at first.

"Why not?" His voice was a whisper and came out far more lustful than he had intended. The shaft of his penis began throbbing and he found himself growing erect quickly, much faster than he would have ever expected a voice to cause. He lay down on his pillow, the cool of the cotton on the left side of his face offsetting the heat of the cell on his right ear. He held his breath, too engrossed in the breathing on the other line to dare to take in oxygen himself.

Axel moaned and Roxas could actually feel the deep reverberating of air and vocal cords through his skin, even over the phone.

"Your voice sounds good over the phone." Axel said in a moaning whisper.

Roxas wanted to tell Axel the same. He had become painfully aroused in just the two minutes he had spent on the phone with him. It only heightened his own sensation that Axel seemed to be having the same reaction. However, he resisted.

"You sound high," Roxas said, his voice still a whisper.

Axel's laughter was smooth and warm, and Roxas rolled to his back. "I had to smoke a blunt to get the nerve to call you."

Roxas smiled at this, his face warming, and he felt oddly flattered. His erection strained against the weight of the quilt, but he did nothing to free it. Instead he continued to bate his breath as his chest burned with anticipation.

"So you're still up for tomorrow right?" There was an undercurrent of lust in Axel's simple question.

"Yeah…" Roxas licked his lips, his mouth dry. His chest tightened painfully and tried to take several calming breaths. The intensity of his sudden aching and yearning for Axel fogged his brain. Surely he wasn't this sex starved, but Axel sounded so… sexy. "What do you wanna do?"

There was another low laugh and Roxas closed his eyes, his arousal becoming almost too painful.

"Hmmmm," Axel contemplated in a deep moan that gave Roxas a very good idea of what he was thinking about. There was more silence and every nerve in Roxas's body was very much aware of the voice on the other end of the phone. His hand slipped beneath the band of his boxers to wrap around the throbbing erection. He wasn't going to be able to stand this much longer.

"Movies," the other boy finally said.

"Movies sound good." Roxas concentrated on Axel's breathing. What he really wanted was for Axel to keep talking.

"I can pick you up if you want. You live on Traverse Street right?"

Stupid Axel, don't ask stupid questions! Roxas grew irritated at the normality of his voice, wishing it would slip back into the deep sensual tone that made him want to have SEX with his PHONE.

He forced his brain to focus on the question asked though.

"Yeah…" but… "mmmm…" he couldn't risk Sora being here because there would be no way Roxas would be able to escape without a game of 20 questions. Kairi's text had said they were gonna convene at Tidus' place at 2pm. He needed to make sure Sora was there before he met up with Axel. "But I have to go to Radiant Gardens tomorrow... do you just wanna meet at the mall at 3?" He bit his lip, his left hand moving up and down the hot shaft at a slow pace, letting his fingers press at the vein in the base. He didn't want to think, he wanted to jerk off.

"Yeah, that's fine." Axel sounded distracted. He imagined Axel was on the other end of the line doing the same thing he was doing, a thought that made his penis twitch. If Axel was getting off on his voice, he sure as hell was going to help him along.

"Axel.." he breathed, finding himself wanting to say the other's name, to feel it on his tongue. Axel was a nice name, he decided. It made his body warm and his crotch ache all the more pleasantly. On the other end there was a sharp intake of breath before Axel muttered in response to his name. He wanted to ask Axel what he was doing; he wanted to hear his voice, speaking in the tone he had gotten him so aroused in the first place. He resisted though, hesitant at initiating phone sex, not really even sure how one went about it. Instead he asked the question that had been in the back of his mind.

"Why'd you ask me out?"

On the other side Axel took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "You're hot. Last summer you were at Demyx's place and you had this… pouty annoyed look and you pushed Hayner in the pool."

Roxas could remember pushing Hayner into his pool because Hayner kept spouting off gay jokes to rile Roxas up, but he hadn't known Axel was there, then again Hayner's brother and his friends usually stayed in his room.

"So you think I'm hot?"

Axel moaned unintelligibly and Roxas moved his hand a bit harder. Silence once again followed and Roxas wanted to scream for Axel to keep talking. It felt like something between a second and an hour before Axel spoke again.

"I…I need to go."

Roxas groaned in frustration, his hand leaving his boxers to hit his forehead hard. If Axel heard it, he didn't say anything.

"Okay," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, Radiant Garden's Mall, 3 o'clock," Axel paused. "I'll see you then."

"Okay… Bye."

"Bye…"

Roxas held his breath, waiting for Axel to hang up before he flipped his phone closed and let it drop to the mattress.

He thought of nothing for a moment, lost in the darkness of his room. He felt queerly empty now that Axel's voice was gone, not to mention the now painful throbbing in his boxers.

That phone call had been a bad idea. He should not have let it get that carried away, he was almost willing to have PHONE SEX with a guy he hardly knew. Axel probably thought he was some kind of slut.

He ran his hands over his face and even though his erection was receding, his balls were starting to hurt. He groaned again in frustration and forced the blanket off him. If he was going to jack off, he didn't want to make a mess in his bed.

* * *

Roxas scrubbed his wet hair with the towel as he stepped out into the hall, momentarily blinded by the blue terrycloth.

"What're you doing up so late?" came a familiar voice. Roxas dropped the towel to look at Cloud Strife. A white t-shirt and flannel paints made his intention for bed obvious. Aware that the running water might have kept him up, Roxas quickly apologized.

"Sorry, I had to take a shower."

"It's 1:30 in the morning."

Roxas was quiet for a moment, his stomach uncomfortably churning. He hadn't really done anything wrong but he couldn't help but feel guilty about the phone call then the need to masturbate.

"I really had to take a shower," he reiterated, hoping the older man got the point.

Cloud blinked in realization before shaking his head. He made no other comment about the shower and turned to go into his bedroom. "Good night, Roxas."

"Good night, Dad."

* * *

_A longer AN than I meant to have:_

First thing I would like to say is "**Thanks**" for every one's lovely reviews. You guys really keep me going. No guarantee the third chapter will come out as fast as this one did, but I hope to have it soon. The phone scene was intense for me to write but I think it came across well.

As for the title, YES it is directly linked to the Radiohead song "Creep." It's a great Axel song and it inspired a drabble that turned into this story. If you haven't heard it before, go look it up. It's a great song and band.


	3. Lying's More Work Than It's Worth

**Chapter 3**

A quick glance at the clock on the radio made his stomach drop; he was 15 minutes late.

It had taken him longer than anticipated to get rid of Sora, who had initially wanted to wait for Roxas. Finally he had spouted off to his twin that he was pissed at Hayner for something and might be by later. It was 2:15 before Roxas had gotten the chance to start begging his father for a ride to the mall.

The car turned into the parking lot and Roxas was already pulling off his seatbelt, ready to jump out of the car as soon as it came to a stop.

"And you're going to get a ride with Riku?" Cloud asked for the third time.

Roxas didn't look at his father, "Yeah, yeah," he assured, "we're gonna find a birthday gift for Sora."

Cloud nodded, accepting Roxas's words for face value. He had no reason to doubt Roxas; their birthday was in less than 2 weeks after all. Of course, he knew little about Roxas's hostility towards his brother's best friend. He and Riku hadn't gotten a long in over a year, however he had used Riku because was the only person in their circle that had a driver's license.

Roxas had it all figured out: he would see a movie with Axel, maybe eat something, and then get him to drop him off at the convenience store on Zanarkand Street. From there he would walk to Tidus'. As long as he got there by 7, no one would be any the wiser.

He had never had much cause to lie to his father but that made the pretense all the easier to swallow.

When the car came to a stop at the main entrance Roxas pushed his door open and was already getting out of the car. "Be careful, and call me later."

"I will, I will." was all he said before he closed the door. He didn't even look back at the car as he hurried his way to the entrance.

Damn it, he was 20 minutes late now. If Axel had left, his story would be shot to hell. His stomach felt like lead at first but relief filled him as pushed through the glass turnstile doors. Axel was sitting near the entrance, his head bowed as he gave a hand held game his full attention. He looked dejected with the way he was slouching on the bench and his head cocked to the side, reminding of a Roxas of a deserted puppy. He looked different than he had the day before; his hair had clearly gotten more consideration because the strange spike style seemed more controlled. His clothes all together had fewer holes and seemed cleaner, though they were still depressingly black.

He played with the zipper of his sweat jacket in hesitation before finally braved a stepped closer. Axel didn't look up, engrossed in his game. Roxas figured he had probably given up on him.

"Hey… Sorry I'm late," he said and Axel's head jerked up in surprise. He stood up quickly, instantly flipping his game closed to shove into one of the cargo pockets on his pants. The lost expression in Axel's eyes confirmed his previous thoughts and his stomach tightened with guilt. He fumbled for an explanation to his tardiness. "I had to get rid of my brother then get a ride..." he waved his hand as if he were acting out the shooing of his brother.

"I thought you said you were already gonna be in Radiant Gardens."

Roxas froze at Axel's innocent question, the other having no idea he had just caught him in a lie. He was able to quickly blink it away and come up with an excuse. "Oh, we were going to, but stuff came up," he shrugged. "I was going to call you but I didn't know if I would get you at the number you called from."

"Ahh, yeah, probably not," Axel shoved his hands in his pockets, his eyes focusing on everything but Roxas's face. Roxas found himself uncomfortable and shifted from one foot to another but fought to keep his eyes on Axel's face, focusing squarely on the marks tattooed into the skin on his cheeks. "Sorry about last night, I was pretty messed up." Axel continued.

"Yeah, me too…" Roxas said, thinking about how Axel's voice had sounded on the phone, of the way it had turned him on. In the shower Roxas's imagination had been filled with thoughts of Axel and as the images flooded back his cheeks burned. For a moment Roxas caught Axel's strange eyes but they both broke away awkwardly, Roxas with the feeling of lead in his belly.

A new level of unease came over Roxas and he found himself dropping his eyes to a ragged torn spot on the collar of Axel's shirt. His felt warmth spread though his body and he had to take a deep breath to calm his mind.

"It's cool, " Roxas finally said, "I was a little out of it too." He wondered if Axel understood the meaning behind the words. It had been pretty obvious that Axel had been turned on while they were talking, but had Axel been able to hear the arousal in his voice?

"Yeah, sorry I called so late," Axel said, pushing the toe of his shoe into the grout space between the tiles on the floor. Roxas only nodded at this, Axel answering his question. The redhead had been pretty high; he wasn't surprised the other didn't remember. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed.

They both stood there, neither looking at each other, nor breaking the awkward silence. The nervous tension made his entire body want to move and he found himself playing with the tag of his jacket's zipper again, pulling it up and down and binding it out of shape.

Paranoia suddenly crept up Roxas's spine like a chill and he quickly looked around, very aware they were in a public place. He knew his friends were probably at Tidus's fighting over what movie they were gonna watch first but the fear wasn't irrational. The mall at Radiant Gardens was far away enough that he wouldn't randomly run into any on he went to school with, but it was still the only mall for a hundred miles. He looked over a group of girls giggle with each other in an _Icings_ store across the way and only glanced away when he was sure they didn't go to his school.

"So... Movie?" Roxas asked anxiously.

* * *

Picking a movie had proved to be a teeth pulling experience. The theater was apparently having a blast from the past weekend, so unless they wanted to wait till 5 when the new movies came on, something Roxas would have lost his mind if he had to do, their only choices were _Casablanca_, _Titanic_, _Grease_ or two movies they had never heard of: _Manhattan_ and _The_ _Changeling_. He would have preferred Axel to have picked since the redhead had already insisted on paying, but the only answers he had been able to pry from Axel were _I don't knows _and _If you want tos_. After finally getting Axel to admit he didn't care for Woody Allen, he had settled on _The Changeling_.

He looked at his phone, which he had taken to playing with instead of his zipper. The movie didn't start for 15 minutes. He flipped the phone closed then open, over and over. This silence was going to kill him. Realizing he was gonna break his phone if he kept playing with it, he dropped it into his lap.

"So what game were you playing?" he finally burst. Axel looked at him sharply, as if he couldn't believe Roxas was talking to him.

"Um…" he looked at his pocket where the game had been stored then back to Roxas, "_Pearl_." His voice was a little soft as if he were ashamed to be playing a Pokémon game.

"Good game," Roxas nodded, "how far are you into it?" He jumped on the chance of having something to talk about.

"Trying to catch Palkia." Axel noticeably relaxed, slouching down in his seat and putting his feet on the seat in front of him.

"I was working on the Elite Four before Sora commandeered it for _Chrono Trigger_. I haven't seen it since." He snorted a laugh, "Sora and I have to share everything and when it goes into the black hole that is his room you might as well count it gone."

Axel laughed a little. "I have three little brothers and a little sister and they seem to think everything left out in the open is theirs, even if it's in someone else room. Though I guess I did the same to Reno."

Reno. Roxas knew that name. He was a senior at their school with the same crazy red hair as Axel. "Reno is your brother," Roxas stated. "It must be crazy to have such a big family."

"You have no idea," Axel stressed, "They're all idiots. "

Roxas tried to picture what it would be like to have 4 younger siblings but all that came to mind was 4 mini-Sora's running rampant, bouncing on the couch, throwing food, and falling down stairs.

He would have killed himself.

He gave Axel a look of pity before getting comfortable with his own feet on the seat in front of him. "I don't envy you, man."

Where Roxas had his arm on the rest he could feel the heat from Axel's body though the sleeve of his shirt. He looked down at where their arms were touching then back to Axel. The redhead was looking forward, his eyes moving with the words on the screen as he read the random trivia. They were such a strange green, there was no way they could be real. And his hair? If Reno hadn't had the same color hair Roxas would have doubted that too. His eyes were drawn to the black marks on his cheeks. Come to think of it, didn't Reno have tattoos as well? He hadn't ever looked closely the senior before but he made a mental note to see if they had the same eyes.

His sharp features and unusually styled hair made him look dangerous. While Axel's fashion had never appealed to Roxas, in fact he would have died before he would have ever been caught in that, it worked very well for Axel.

Axel turned his head, catching Roxas staring at him. Roxas was about to open his mouth and say something to cover, but his phone suddenly went off loudly in his lap, the ring tone blaring loudly.

Roxas jumped, his heart freezing in shock. He quickly grabbed his phone and put it to his ear.

"Hello?"

_"Okay, so I know you said you were gonna come over later but I was curious about what Hayner did to piss you off, so I asked Olette, but she didn't know what it was, then Hayner overheard us talking and HE said he didn't know anything about you being mad at him and now he's mad and I really think you need to talk to him or something."_

Roxas pulled his phone from his ear, Sora's loud voice easily booming though the small speaker. He gave a groan at his brother's breathless ramble and lifted his hand to fist in his hair in aggravation.

"Shit, Sora, you weren't supposed to TELL Hayner I was mad at him."

_"I didn't, he overheard me and Olette talking. I was worried about you, you were acting weird earlier."_

Sora had no idea how much shit he had just gotten Roxas into with Hayner, and he could only hope he could weasel his way out of it, most likely by coming up with yet another lie to cover the lie he told Sora.

Lying was way too much work.

"Look, I'll deal with Hayner later."

_"Why don't you talk to him, he's like right here…"_

"No, Sora. I can't talk to him now, I'm doing something. I will later, I promise, just... don't make it worse by trying to help." There was silence on Sora's end before he heard his brother sigh.

_"Okay. I'll talk to you later."_ Sora's voice sounded short and Roxas was sure his brother was mad at him but it wasn't something he could deal with now over the phone with Axel sitting right next to him. Once Roxas got there he would have to do a lot of fancy talking to cover his tracks. When the call ended he turned off his phone, not wanting to deal with the inevitable text messages he would be getting from Olette. He turned to Axel.

"Sorry, Sora was being an idiot."

"That's cool," Axel said as he looked at Roxas, his face slack and head lowered. He looked at Roxas's face a minute before he cast his glance back at the screen, his face unreadable. "You didn't have to come if you had other plans."

Roxas's stomach twisted and guilt built up in his gut and he got the distinct impression Axel was upset. He struggled to come up with something to say to defuse the situation.

"It's not really other plans. Just some friends getting together I was going to meet up with later." Roxas felt uncomfortable revealing such information, he was after all on a date with Axel; he only hoped Axel didn't expect an invitation. "I didn't even know anything about it till after I got home. I was just gonna meet up with them after you dropped me off." He repeated himself, purposefully amending his statement. Axel turned back to Roxas, his face cold and eyes hard in a clearly pissed off look. Roxas's uneasy feeling transformed into something akin to fear and he continued anxiously, wanting to appease Axel. "Sora is a brat, he would have stalked us if he knew where I was and that would have sucked because Sora is really weird and then there is Kairi who is like a fucking mother hen and Olette reads way too many Harlequin novels and frankly it wasn't any of their business that I had a date with you." Roxas took a deep breath and turned back to the screen pointedly. Beside him Axel was silent for a moment.

"So you didn't tell them you were with me?" Axel's voice was both amused and irritated. Roxas turned his head sharply, just now realizing what he had revealed in his nervous rambling.

"It wasn't any of their business. I don't need their permission to go on a date," Roxas managed to state firmly, looking Axel directly in the eye.

Axel held up a defensive hand. "Do what you want, free country and all," was all he said before he looked away with a bored look on his face.

Axel's annoyance at Roxas settled over the blond like a storm cloud, making the atmosphere heavy around them. Silence wasn't awkward this time but biting. Roxas felt like a class act jerk. Axel had clearly asked him out for a reason and, even though Roxas had dearly wanted to decline, he had said yes. Roxas looked at Axel uncertainly, the need to break the silence causing him to open his mouth and speak.

"Are your eyes real?"

Axel looked at him and the corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. Axel leaned in closer, giving Roxas a closer view of his eyes. "Yep."

Roxas looked at him square in the eye, his own eyes going back and forth between the two, looking closely around the edge of the iris for any signs of contacts before taking great care to take in the color. He had teal green eyes, something Roxas would have previously questioned as a natural occurring genetic trait. He took a moment to look over the rest of Axel's face, taking in the triangular tattoos on Axel's cheeks.

"Your eyes are really cool," he complimented. In the theater the lights dimmed. Roxas didn't look away even when the booming sound of the beginning of a trailer started.

"Thanks," Axel said. Roxas's eyes trailed down the tip of the other's nose to his lips, licking his own. In the pit of his belly heat started to churn, his cheeks flushing. Memory of the previous night filtered back into his thoughts.

Roxas leaned forward some, his face inches from Axel's. The idea of kissing Axel played in his mind for a few second before he tried pushing it away. Roxas wasn't sure kissing Axel was a very good idea, though the temptation lingered as heat pooled in his belly and cheeks. He could tangibly feel the sexual pull towards Axel in his chest.

"Do you have any idea," he said slowly, the sound of his voice even taking him by surprise, "how incredibly turned on you made me last night?" He had no idea why he had revealed such an intimate secret in such a sensual tone. He couldn't help the primal need to turn Axel on as much as he was. He wanted Axel to feel as hard for him as he made Roxas. His eyes trailed over the redhead's lax jaw, pleased to see Axel surprised at the sudden confession. Axel took a slow intake of breath before he spoke.

"I think so."

His voice was very similar to the tone he used last night only this time much clearer, unpolluted by the distance of a phone line. Roxas bit his lip, enjoying the sudden excitement that stirred in his groin. He took a shaky breath to speak next

"I was very pissed off when you hung up," he chided in a playful tone.

Axel's chuckle was low, and it spread Roxas's skin as if it were a warm breath. "Well, I was about to jack off in my living room."

Roxas smiled at this and ran his tongue over the edge of his teeth in excitement. Sex was heavy on his mind and Roxas found that he had grown fully and painfully erect. He wanted Axel, he wanted Axel very badly but there was a time and place for everything. The movie theater, no matter how dark it was, was not the place. Roxas resisted the pull he felt in his chest once again, this time by drawing back to sit in his seat properly.

"Well, you left me to deal with my own problems," Roxas said teasingly, looking to the front as a trailer announced the title and release date of its movie. He pushed his sleeves up to relive some of the heat. "But whatever, I'm a big boy." Axel's buoyant laugh made Roxas smile even more.

"I'll make sure to not let that happen again."

Again? Roxas hadn't been thinking beyond the first date, the pulsing in his pants was making him reconsider his initial plans.

With a shake of his head, he tried to fight off his erection by trying to pay attention to the film. After last night he shouldn't have been surprised at how quickly Axel could turn him on. There was something about Axel that attracted Roxas, even when Roxas knew they had nowhere to go. There was no way Roxas could ever go out with someone like Axel regularly. They were from two worlds populated by two different species of people. Besides, wasn't Axel supposed to be dangerous?

But that had an appeal of its own Roxas wasn't going to deny.

So what if they weren't going anywhere. They were headed to sex and Roxas's dick said that was a good direction. Besides it was his date, not Sora's or anyone else's. If Roxas wanted to have fun, then that was his prerogative.

Settled in his decision he set his attention on the movie.

After the initial dramatic on screen death of the leading character's family, the movie slowed down to a crawl and while Roxas kept his eyes squarely on the screen, his attention was drawn to the armrest where Axel shifted his arm. This surprised him at first but he steeled his arm to keep from jerking it away. When he tried to put his mind on the movie plot it moved right back to Axel's warm skin against his arm.

He found himself growing nervous but his arousal started to rear its head again. He tried to regain his composure but memories of how horny Axel had made him the night before drifted back and a pleasant tingling sensation making its way up his penis.

He wanted to demand Axel's attention, maybe grab his hand and show Axel just how hard he was but he resisted and only closed his eyes and tried fighting his erection off. Maybe he could reach over and grab Axel's penis. He wondered if the redhead was as easily aroused as he was. He amused himself with the imagery and it made him even more aware of the hot body sitting next to him, the warm arm pressed against his.

Touching Axel suddenly seemed thrilling to Roxas's mind. He wanted to run his fingers though that wild hair, run his hand up Axel's shirt. He could just envision himself pushing up the armrest to crawl on his lap to dominate him with a deep kiss.

Axel's lifted his hand to scratch his cheek before dropping it back down, bringing Roxas's attention back to the arm rest. With his heart pounding Roxas turned his palm over in an open invitation. At first he thought Axel had disregarded the motions and he was about ready to try something else when Axel's hand moved, lifting up to rest on Roxas's.

The gesture was surprisingly more intimate than he had expected. He looked at their hands then over to Axel, wanting to ask if it was okay, but he wasn't looking his way. He looked back to the screen as the character stormed up a staircase with a purpose Roxas didn't care to know.

Ten minutes later their fingers were tangled together so tightly that Roxas could feel the tingling of his pinky losing feeling and the painful ache with the way his wrist was twisted, but he felt far too fearful to break the hold.

On the screen Roxas had no idea what was going on but he was too scared to look away.

* * *

That chapter was a fun write! Special extra 10 million thanks to west_side, who despite insane real life work schedule was able to beta this so awesomely.


	4. A Serious Fixation on World Destruction

(Warnings of **LIME**. I'm earning my M rating.)

Regardless of youthful expectations, and possibly in spite of them, holding hands for a long period of time over a chair arm was not comfortable. Roxas imagined that the man who designed the back row of the theater was an especially hateful person who knew deep into the hearts of teenage movie goers everywhere because the armrest was bolted in place.

At first the awkward angle of Roxas' wrist had only caused minor discomfort in his pinky, but it slowly turned to a numbness that started to creep up his entire arm and made his wrist ache painfully. It became more awkward as the combined heat of their hands cause his to perspire, making their skin stick together. With regret Roxas had been forced to abandon their intimate moment, and while he attempted to pay attention to the plot, his mind kept straying to the dull itch to take Axel's hand.

When the lights slowly brightened to a low hue, he noticed with surprise the amount of people who had filtered in. There were at least 20 more, including a group of teenagers gathered in the middle. Paranoia slowly set in and he sank farther into his chair. One of the boys had a varsity jacket from another school, but he still couldn't be sure any of them wouldn't know him. The man closest to them made a loud cough, startling Roxas at first, but he only stood up and gathered his coat, not sparing the two teens a glance.

Roxas let out a deep calming breath. There was no need to panic, he told himself, no one in the theater had any business worrying about what he was doing.

"So..." Axel trailed off.

"So..." Roxas echoed. "Something else?" He kept his eyes on the emptying theater, the teenagers finally stood up and now that he could see their faces he was confident they didn't know him.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Axel asked. Caught off guard by his callous tone, Roxas jerked head to see Axel looking at him annoyed. Had he done something wrong? He was sure that he had somehow smoothed things over since Axel had found out he had lied about coming to see him. They'd even held hands!

"No, no... I have time," Roxas replied. He pulled out his phone to look at the clock, only to find it was still powered off. He pushed the power button then shoved it back in his pocket. "Couple of hours before anyone is expecting me," he guessed. "We can do whatever you want." He wasn't ready to end the date yet and he tried to put on a cheerful look despite the sudden tension that washed through him.

Axel gave a half shrug. "Doesn't matter. If it's easier I can just drop you off..."

"No!" Roxas insisted. "You payed for the movie so I'll pay for something to eat. I'm starving anyways." He ignored the knots his intestines were tying and stood up, the chair flipping back up with a loud creak. He was relieved when Axel followed suit with an conceding shrug.

"How did you like the movie?" Roxas asked as they navigated to the exit.

"It was okay. A little predictable."

"I'd watch it again, though probably not something I'd go out of my way for," Roxas said, glad to have something to cling to for conversation. Movies were a safe subject, nice, and generic.

"Yeah, same. I guess." Axel pushed the door open to the hallway and the light assaulted Roxas dilated eyes, forcing him to rub the spots from his vision.

"Have you ever seen..." he started to ask, but as soon as his vision cleared he spotted a large panoramic cardboard display. It hadn't been there earlier, because the destroyed skyline of Hollow Bastion would have most certainly caught his attention.

He reached out, grabbing Axel's wrist to stop, before dragging him to the large plastic letters that spelled out "Apocalypse" in a foreboding font. He took in the date of next summer and tag line ("the end always has a beginning").

Axel scratched his head as he studied the display with mild boredom."The first one was pretty good, but this one has a whole different cast so I don't know."

"There's another one?" Roxas asked, unable to contain his joy. A sucker for a high budget cataclysm, Christmas was not only coming next June but had happened yesterday and he had presents at home to open.

"Yeah. Um.. what's it called." Axel waved a hand around vaguely as if to motion at something only he could see. "Post Apocalyptic? I think it came out in the 90s or something."

Roxas grasped Axel's arm tightly, pulling with all the enthusiasm of Sora in Disneyland. He had never heard of this movie until now which meant something tragic had gone very very wrong, but it would be righted as soon as he got his allowance.

"Seriously? Oh! That's awesome! Freakin' love movies where the world is destroyed by something humanity has absolutely no chance to survive." He threw his hands in the air as if to somehow simulate the world exploding.

"That's a little morbid."

Roxas' bliss crashed into its own fiery destruction. He spun, mid explosion to face the speaker. A familiar blue haired teen that stood eye level with Roxas watched impassively, part of his face obscured by his bangs. Fear choked his thoughts and for a long awkward second Roxas lost the ability to process words.

"Zexion!"

"Hey," Zexion said. Roxas shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and opened his mouth to speak, but mid first syllable snapped it shut. They stared at each other, the shocked silence growing more awkward by the second. Zexion appeared to be expecting Roxas to say something, but Roxas' jaw was clamped so tightly his teeth were starting to hurt.

He needed to get rid of the boy, and he tried to think of what to do, but all he managed was a mental _Go away, go away, go away. _Also he conjured a strange craving for a Twix bar. Twix bars were so not going to help him.

Axel spoke up suddenly, pulling away from Roxas's side. "I'll be right back." Roxas panicked, head whipping towards Axel's retreating figure.

_Damn it, no, not you!_

He let out a pained whimper, longing to cry out and stop Axel, but he was already almost to the bathroom. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he turned met Zexion's eyes bravely. The fear of being questioned, having to lie, or worse, tell the truth, had caused his flight or fight response to short circuit, turning him into a deer seconds from meeting the grill of a truck.

The truck, of course, being the fate of any of his friends finding out he was on a date with "that creepy" Axel. He raced to find something to say, an easy lie to grasp but the seconds ticked on awkwardly.

"Whats up?" he asked, finally finding his voice. Zexion pointed at a crowd of about five elementary aged kids in various shades of pink fawning over an equally pink poster of some new girl movie.

"My sister's birthday sleepover thing."

Roxas offered him a sympathetic wince. "Sorry, man."

"Whatever," Zexion replied, "My allowance is getting doubled for helping."

"Well, that's good." Roxas responded as he watched him closely. He was still expecting an onslaught of questions and the longer it took to get to them the more tempted he was becoming to just turn heel and leave.

"What'd you guys see?" Zexion asked.

"We saw, um..." What was it? They had just watched it. Some weird movie name that had only half made sense to the plot. "The Changeling." Roxas was aware he had just acknowledged Axel had been the one he was with and felt the overwhelming urge finish with some lie about why they were together but bit his tongue. He had no reason to offer up an excuse that Zexion hadn't asked for, in fact what he was doing with Axel was really none of Zexion's business. Zexion didn't strike him as the gossiping type, never mind that he didn't have hardly any friends to gossip to.

"Ah, never heard of it."

"It was meh," he said, starting to remember why he had rarely spoken to the other boy, despite the advanced math class they shared. There was something odd about him that he had never been able to put his finger on. He had this weird way of watching Roxas as if he were waiting for him to transform into something more interesting. It made his skin crawl and he usually went out of his way to avoid him.

Silence continued to rein and Zexion offered nothing else other then the uneasy feeling of his penetrating stare. Neither one of them spoke another word until Axel's voice broke the silence.

"Sorry." He moved to Roxas' side and Roxas had never been so happy to see anyone in his life.

He edged closer to Axel and away from his classmate to interlink his arm with Axel's. He was fully prepared to hide behind him, if Zexion got any closer.

"So, food?" he asked Axel, gripping his arm tightly with an an underlying demand of _lets get the hell out of here._

"Yeah, whatever you want."

Still clinging to Axel, Roxas started to lead him away. "Later," he called to Zexion and Axel managed partial wave of his own. He didn't look back, but heard a faint "yeah, later" before he got them to the exit that led back into the spacious interior of the mall. He glanced back through the windows, eyes locking with the still staring Zexion.

Resisting the urge to shiver, he held on to Axel's arm, pulling him away from the front of the theater and out of Zexion's view. "He's so creepy," he hissed to Axel as he steered him in a random direction, a little fearful that Zexion would run up and press against the glass to watch them leave.

"He probably has a thing for you."

Wondering if Axel had sprouted a second crazier and invisible head, Roxas stopped in his tracks. "What? No!" He scoffed and shook his head. Zexion was just weird. Roxas liked to think he wasn't a freak magnet.

Then again he was on a date with Axel. He eyed Axel up and down a moment before doubting his previous assessment.

"Well, maybe," he conceded. Did he have some sort of sign that said 'I'm gay, all social outcasts may apply" on his back? Was he slowly amassing a horde of weirdos for a fan club?

Disturbed by the idea, he scanned the crowd, looking for any strange people that might be watching him. He spotted someone dressed as a clown on the far end of the strip, passing out balloons with advertisements. For a brief second the man, smiling from ear to ear, looked in Roxas' direction. Roxas blood chilled and turned away, using Axel to hide.

"What makes you think that anyways?" He pulled Axel in the opposite direction of the clown as memories of a horror movie he had seen years ago played through his head.

Axel shrugged as he followed. "I don't know. Just something about it had the whole feel of 'I masturbate to you in the shower.'"

"What? No!" Roxas' recoiled at the thought, wrinkling his nose. "That's just... gross."

Axel laughing lightly, bending down to press his lips secretively to Roxas' ear. "I jack off to you in the shower all the time."

Roxas stopped abruptly, blood rushing to his face as Axel's warm breath brushed over his ear and neck. He turned his head to Axel, their eyes locking.

"Well," Roxas replied softly, a provocative grin crossing his lips even as his heart started racing. "I did the same for you last night, but that doesn't make Zexion any less weird."

Axel rolled his eyes, bumping into Roxas playfully. "Maybe that makes you the weird one."

"I am not weird!" A sense of ease settled over him and he bumped back, lifting a hand to poke at Axel in the side. "You're the creep, remember? Starring at me ALL detention then randomly asking me out. Kairi thought you were going to tie me up and rape me or something."

"I thought about it," Axel said without a beat.

"What?" Roxas let out a gasp and reflexively pulled away, a jolt of panic freezing him in place. Axel's creep factor screamed criminal intent, and for an irrational second Roxas wasn't sure just how serious he was.

Axel burst out laughing. "I'm joking!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Weirdo."

"Relax," Axel soothed, leaning back down to whisper in his ear, "I think you would be a lot hotter moaning and screaming my name instead of fighting me.

Roxas grinned. He wanted to hear more of such thoughts, but Axel only pulled away. He considered skipping any idea of food to explore on such a topic, but his stomach, significantly more alleviated then before, made a protest of hunger.

"Come on, lets go find something to eat. I'm starved."

-o-

Selecting food had been as difficult as selecting a movie. Everything sounded good to Axel and nothing had really stuck out to Roxas. They had settled on the first restaurant they had passed in their directionless - but still away from the clown - wandering. Much to Roxas' delight, they had been walked to a corner table that was dimly lit by the hanging lamps and surrounded only by the faces of long dead celebrities he recognised but couldn't name. Relaxed and alone, the conversation between them had flowed, first about food then video games Axel had played. Roxas had only been partially able to follow the current game's plot, a little too nervous to concentrate for long periods.

He looked away from Axel, who was painting a picture with a ketchup coated fry, to the straw wrapped tightly around his finger. He had seen something online once about how you could cut them into really cool origami shapes. He should look into that later.

"Great game, but the end was brutal," Axel said with a finality that pulled Roxas' attention back to his voice. Hoping he was still talking about the same game, Roxas spoke up, trying to add something to the conversation to make it seem like he'd been paying attention.

"Well, I mean, it was a prequel to a game that started out with a sole survivor," Roxas added. When Axel nodded in agreement, he sat back, pleased to not look like a dumbass. He made a mental note to look up the plot of both games later online.

"So, you like movies where the world is destroyed?" Axel asked after finishing the last of his fries. Roxas nodded, trying not to jitter to much in his seat.

"Yeah! Oh yeah. I like the bad ones even, like 2012."

"That movie was a load of shit."

"Oh yeah, it was horrible," Roxas said with a laugh, "The worst part for me, though, was having to listen to Sora groaning afterwords about how unrealistic it all was. He doesn't have an appreciation for human extinction like I do."

"Normal people don't have an appreciation for the extinction of the human race." A statement about normal people was ironic coming from Axel, but Roxas was enjoying the conversation too much to think about it. He leaned forward over the table, and grinned.

"It's not about the extinction of humanity, though. It's about going through the end of the world and surviving. People keep living, the world keeps spinning." He paused then quickly added, "Sometimes. I mean I count earth being destroyed and humanity barely surviving on my list of apocalyptic kink."

"Titan AE was a good movie."

Roxas brightened, happy to hear Axel knew the movie he was thinking of. "Yes, it really was! At the beginning, when the aliens attack and earth explodes just awed me. I watched it a hundred times growing up. It's so underrated."

Axel smiled at him, chuckling lightly, the sound pleasant to Roxas' ears. His smile softened as he watched Axel, the dim lights casting shadows over his face making his features appear sharp and dangerous. A yearning started in the pit of his belly and he bit his lip. That physical pull was there again, a string from the center of his chest that made breathing a bit more labored.

Sharp and dangerous, but that only made him more attractive.

"So..." Roxas said, breath bated. "Somewhere else?"

"Don't you have a party to go to?" Axel asked, his voice so casual it disappointed Roxas. What he would give for Axel to talk like he had before, low murmuring tones that sent chills along Roxas' spine.

"I got time, besides they can wait." He wondered if he could make Axel read his mind, if he could release some sort of pheromone that said _let's go somewhere more private_.

After paying the bill, Roxas followed Axel to his car. The crowd of the mall had become denser as the day had progressed and he found he wasn't able to walk beside Axel. His hand itched to hold the other's again and once they were out of the crowd of the mall into the relative emptiness of the parking garage Roxas reached out.

Axel paused in his steps, looking down at their hands before up to Roxas.

"So, where did you park?" Roxas enquired, trying to keep his voice level as he fought to act casual under the older boy's gaze.

Axel blinked at him again before looking away, his hand tightening around Roxas' as he led him forward. Roxas couldn't help but smile at this before he looked out at the dimming sky. The movie and dinner must have been longer then he'd expected. The tightening in his chest became painful as he thought about having to end their date so early. Maybe he could afford to be a bit late to the party. He would just shoot his brother a text closer to 7 then show up at 8 or 9. Just to get a few more hours in with Axel would be worth whatever his brother had to say.

The car he was led to was nicer then what he had expected. Compared to Axel's unkempt clothes he had imagined something less shiny, but the dark tinted windows and black paint gleamed dangerously, matching Axel well.

"Nice car."

"I borrowed it from Reno."

And by borrowed, Roxas got the feeling he meant stole. He had no doubt that this was Axel's brother's pride and joy. No one could possibly have a car this nice and not jack off to it and call it "Baby." Roxas certainly would.

He wondered if it was a stick shift.

"Are you going to get into trouble?" Roxas questioned as pushed away the raunchy images that came to mind. THAT was a thought for another time.

"Most likely." Axel nodded as he looked Roxas up and down his hand tightening his grip on Roxas' hand. "Totally worth it," he added.

Roxas' grinned as he enjoyed the attention. He pulled gently on Axel's arm, stepping closer. "I hope so."

"Are you _sure _you don't want me to drop you off at your friend's? It's kinda late." Axel's voice was low, almost teasing. He titled his head down and brushed his cheek against Roxas'.

Things were happening too fast, a voice in the back of Roxas' mind screamed at him. He really should just take Axel up on his offer, but Axel's smell caused a fog to descend over his mind, muffling any protests. It was ever so easy to turn his head just so that his lips brushed across Axel's jaw when he spoke.

"I got time." He said softly and the tugging in his chest exploded into heat that washed throughout his abdomen. "We can do something else." He could hear his heart beating in his ears, and if something didn't happen, he was going to explode.

"Where'd you wanna go?" Axel asked. Roxas resisted a shiver but a soft moan still escaped. Oh, he had lots of places he wanted to go.

"Where ever." He pressed a little closer. The only thing separating their lips was a small turn of the head, Axel's breath warm against his ear. Fearful that Axel would pull away he tightened his grip. The seconds slowly ticked, the moment started to turn awkward. Roxas resisted urge to stomp his foot in frustration.

_Oh, fuck it._

He pulled back, reaching his free hand to grab the back of Axel's neck, fingers entangling in his soft red spikes. He met Axel's eyes a split second before finally pressing their lips together. Axel responded immediately with a low sound, pinning Roxas back against the car. With an excited gasp Roxas parted his lips, welcoming a deeper kiss. Heat burned his cheeks as their tongues licked each other, the kiss passionate and needy.

"We should go somewhere else," he breathed to Axel, breaking away only a second to speak the obvious before kissing him again. It was several seconds before Axel replied.

"Where?" he asked, pressing his forehead to Roxas'. Roxas breathed heavily as he tried to think of just where was. He'd never heard anything about a "make out point" before so he was pretty lost with ideas.

"Somewhere less public?" Roxas muttered, hopping Axel had an idea. Before he could reply though, Roxas initiated another kiss. Axel managed to mutter an affirmative noise before finally breaking away to quickly move to the driver's side. Fighting the need to groan at the loss, he pulled the handle of the door.

-o-

Listening to Axel prattle on about bands he liked gave Roxas' hormones enough time to calm down. Despite knowing many of the bands Axel had mentioned "getting a boner for" (his words, not Roxas'), and being vaguely sure Roxas had heard them at least once or twice, he struggled to pull a single song from memory. Axel's enthusiasm on the topic was easy to feed with generic questions, which Roxas found was easier then pretending to have a clue. He tried to make mental notes on the band names to look them up later, but most of them had strange names he was sure to forget before the end of the night.

When a comfortable silence settled between them during a string of good songs (songs he had heard, but had no idea the artist), he took the time to decide how to proceed with the date. He really wanted nothing more then to crawl over and straddle Axel's lap, so they could make out like there was no tomorrow, in fact, that was going to be his plan.

The soft nagging voice that sounded eerily like Sora spoke up, telling him this was a bad idea. He had already lied to everyone and were he to get caught he was pretty sure the metaphorical excrement would be hitting the metaphorical fan. The Sora-in-his-head also reminded him that people would actually worry about his whereabouts and be even more so when they heard he was with Creep Axel and that the Sora-not-in-his-head was probably going to go ape shit.

Roxas, however, dismissed the voice with a mental roll of his eyes. Mister "Stitch Taught Me Everything I Ever Needed To Know About Life" was no one to give advice on what was a good idea or not, even it wasn't really Sora just his own conscious which was promptly told by the dull ache in his pants to STFU. He pushed his doubt away, noticing they were turning off the main road onto one that was in bad need of attention from the county. He recognised it only enough to know they were about 10 or 15 minutes from town.

"So, where are we going, anyways?" he asked, watching the trees give way to a field.

"My grandma's old place," Axel responded, "I think I still know how to get there. You'll like it."

Slowly the trees replaced pastures and farm land, each new road turned onto less pavement and more gravel until Axel finally turned onto a vaguely shaped driveway that was more overgrown weeds then gravel. The dim moon did little to fight off the shadows of the trees, so it wasn't until Axel pulled to a stop that Roxas first got a good sight of what he assumed was Axel's grandmother's house.

At the height of the house's life it probably had been nothing to brag about: a typical mountain shack that would have given its family only the barest necessary shelter. Time had caused the frame to slouch heavily to the side, a tall oak seemingly the only support that kept it from flattening out. There was nothing special about it as far as deteriorated houses went, but Roxas was instantly taken. Forgetting all about his earlier plans regarding the driver's seat and Axel, he opened his door and was half way out before Axel had even cut the ignition.

"Awesome. Is it safe to go in?" He reached into his pocket, intending to pull out his phone as a makeshift flashlight.

"Probably not. Hold on, though, should be a light." Axel made his way around to the trunk and Roxas pushed his phone back into his pocket.

"Perfect." He turned back to the house. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he could make out the shadows of the trees as they swayed in the wind, casting long bony fingers that clawed over the face of the shack. It would have been made perfect if thunder and lightning set the back drop, though Roxas wasn't to sure he cared to be in such a decaying house during a storm.

The wind crept up his spine and he shivered, burying his hands in his jacket. Oh, but it would be cool none the less. To be forced to take shelter in such a place or face the furry of a storm.

"Cold?" Axel asked as he made his way to Roxas' side, a large steal flashlight in hand.

"No, just thinking having to be stuck in place like this during bad weather."

Axel clicked on the light and shot it's beam to the front porch where it met with a row of three boarded up windows and a no trespassing sign. "I'm surprised it's still standing," he told Roxas before moving toward the house.

"Your grandmother lived here?" Roxas asked, following him closely through the tall grass.

"Yeah. I don't think anyone's actually lived here in forever, though."

"Will we get into trouble for being here?"

Axel laughed at this and turned to Roxas. "As long as the house doesn't fall down on us, no one will be any the wiser."

Or the house could fall down on them and no one would still be any the wiser, Roxas thought. He could already hear the rumour mill churning up a shit creak of gossip that they go missing days after Axel mysteriously accosts him after school. Maybe they would make it on 20/20. His brother would give testimonials about what a wonderful loving person Roxas had been followed by Axel's brother telling the reporter how perfect his missing car was.

Once they made their way to the left side of the house, it became more obvious that even though the house was slouching, it wasn't actually leaning against the tree. He wanted to ask one more time if it was really going to be safe, but decided that he would just seem like a wimp. Besides, he already knew it wasn't safe and they would probably get in trouble if caught, but Roxas didn't really care. When Axel went into the side door, Roxas followed without a word.

The moldy damp wood smell instantly tickled Roxas' nose and he wrinkled it up to resist the sneeze. The shack was only one room deep and three rooms wide and would have been a cramped home for even smaller families. As the flashlight moved over the walls he caught sight of what looked like old newspapers plastered to it, most likely used to insulate the modest home. He moved closer to a section of the wall where Axel lingered the light but was unable to make out any words as layer on layer had bleed together.

"I wonder if places like this can be haunted," he said out loud, giving up on the print. He moved with Axel as they walked into the middle room, just as small and undecorated as the last.

"Ghosts don't haunt rotting houses like this," Axel said as though he had spoken to ghosts about just such a topic. "They haunt big mansions and battle fields."

"Who's to say that?" Roxas poked him in the back, urging Axel to turn around. "No one would KNOW this place was haunted cause no one lives here."

Narrowing his eyes at Roxas, Axel nodded. "Touche."

"And with that thought what about Apocalypse's?" Roxas continued, "What if in a world where billions and billions of people died from bombs and starvation and disease had ghosts just walking around living like they never died at all."

"You have a serious fixation on world destruction."

Roxas grinned up at him, stepping a little closer. "I think about it a lot."

"That has potential to be kinky." Axel's head was stooped and, once again, they were inches from a kiss.

"Oh, yeah, nuclear winter and tsunamis," Roxas moaned erotically, "and ghosts lots and lots of ghosts." He pressed flush against the other and Axel grinned, bending his head down.

"Oh, you should do that again." He rubbed his nose against Roxas' cheek, the heat of his breath causing goose-flesh on his neck.

Roxas smirked and whispered a challenge in Axel's ear. "You should make me."

With a low groan Axel turned his head, their lips meeting in a fiery kiss. Burying his hands in Axel's hair he pulled down, easing his own strain to reach for a deeper kiss and gasped as Axel's hands reached down to grab his ass. Roxas pulled back, looking at Axel in the darkness, but could only vaguely make out his face.

"We should go to the car," Roxas suggested and Axel responded with a laugh.

"What? Scared a ghost is gonna watch?"

"No," Roxas leaned forward, playfully biting at Axel's lips. "But I really don't want the house to fall down on us. That would be a serious cock block."

"I'll agree - for now." Axel's cool hand clasped Roxas' before leading him with the flashlight back to the car.

-o-

Blunt nails scraped across skin of Roxas' lower back, the sensation forced chills up his spine before erupting into a conflagration that raged through his body. He gasped into Axel's mouth and the other boy pushed his hips against Roxas' to grind against him, pinning him harder to the backseat. Biting down on Axel's bottom lip lightly he pressed back, the hard erection in the other boy's pants increasing the pain of his own.

He finally broke away, gasping for breath but Axel's lips only moved to his neck. Every lick and nip eliciting a breathy moan and every moan only gave more encouragement to Axel's ministration's.

"You are so fucking hot." Axel pushed against him again, his voice low enough reverberate through Roxas' being.

Roxas moaned at the complement, the words going right to his crotch. He laughed softy, about to say something, but the words disappeared as Axel's hand found the seat of his pants, grabbing his ass to grind as hard as they could together. Roxas whimpered from both the pleasure of the sensation and the painful need for something more then just dry humping. His body craved more, the desire consuming rational thought.

How long had they been doing this now? Dancing on a razor's edge, each touch and kiss, every breath and gasp pushing them closer and closer to something Roxas wasn't sure he could - or even wanted to - stop. He was drowning in the illusion that time had frozen in a universe where only they existed, nothing outside the haze of the steamy windows mattered.

Axel would push the line, pressing closer and closer to something so much more carnal, Roxas would give, just a bit, and Axel would push it again. Somewhere in the fog Roxas was aware he had already gone too far, but... perhaps... just another inch.

His teeth found the juncture of Axel's neck, biting with more pressure than intended, but Axel only shivered and pressed against him harder, tilting his head to give Roxas better access. Enjoying the reaction, he accepted the offering, alternating bites with licks and the grazing of his teeth.

Tantalizing fingers danced up Roxas' side, leaving a blazing trail of skin that longed to be touched again, like an itch that was just missed. When Axel moved his hand down the skin of his belly, Roxas nearly cried in frustration. He pressed his lips to Axel's jaw and the other turned his head, meeting him in another deep kiss, their tongues sliding against each other in an erotic slippery dance. Axel's hand brushed over Roxas' lower belly before pulling at the button of his jeans.

Teetering on the edge of a raging torrent, Roxas gave another inch.

"Scoot up," Axel softly instructed, pulling back to his knees, head cocked awkwardly against the roof. Unsure what he meant, Roxas raised up but Axel nudged him back against the window. When Axel's head lowered to his lap, any self-control Roxas might have been holding started to slip through his fingers.

He kept his eyes open, watching the redhead with awe, his fingers stroking softly through the other's spikes. He wanted that, he wanted to do that for Axel, actually he wanted to do a lot with Axel.

"Do you have a condom?" He spoke before he even thought about what he was saying, and Axel looked up from his task with wide eyes. It felt like Axel should have considered his question longer, tasted the finality that that still tingled Roxas' ears, but the older boy nodded quickly and pulled away to reach to the front seat and open the glove compartment.

The loss of stimulation from Axel gave him a moment to breathe, his mind slowly clicking muddled thoughts together. He was about to give up his virginity in the backseat of a stolen car parked in front of a rickety shack to the first random creep that had ever shown any real interest in him. A hollow feeling echoed inside of him at that thought, and he was dully aware that he hadn't really given much stock in his virginity up until this point.

His apprehension collided fatally with his hormones. When Axel returned, a small foil wrapper in hand, Roxas leaned forward to press their lips together, willingly giving Axel all the inches that were left.

-o-

Roxas' heart beat has soothed to a normal pulse, his breathing calm and even and it settled him to a contented state. Post orgasm, and probably the lack of oxygen in the car, gave the feeling that the car was floating around in space. Roxas watched Axel above him as he reached to the front window to roll it down a crack before disposing of the condom half-hazardly out the window. He fumbled with fixing his pants then lowered his head down to Roxas' chest and the blond happily lifted his hand to run through his damp red hair.

"I'm not crushing you, am I?"

Roxas shook his head, hardly able to put more effort into his answer as his eyes slipped closed. They were hot and sticky and the backseat of this car was not made for the comfort of two people post coitus, but Roxas couldn't have cared less.

"I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

He gave his condition some consideration before answering. "No." And he didn't.

"You're sure?"

Roxas wanted to groan but the only energy he had to give was a huff that might have sounded like am "'mfine."

Axel had been agonizingly gentle. Even when Roxas had started begging him to move faster he had kept a slow pace. It hadn't been until Roxas was nearly in tears that Axel had given in. They didn't last much longer and Roxas was pretty sure it had to have been the most satisfying orgasm of his life. He had always heard horror stories about first times and blood and pain but he felt none of that. It felt a little odd but far from painful.

"I'm really okay. It was amazing."

Axel seemed to accept that and pressed a kiss to the center of Roxas' chest. "Good," he said softly before settling back down. It was strange to see this dangerous bad boy so doting and nothing at all like the image painted of him. Like the way he had looked after detention, so vulnerable. He was like a puppy.

Emotion griped his chest so tightly it hurt, and he had to take a deep breath to keep it from overwhelming him. Axel was so much more than he had giving him credit for.

"If an Apocalypse happened right now, do you think you'd survive?"

Roxas opened his eyes at the sudden question, looking down at Axel who had lifted his head to regard him. Roxas pursed his lips in thought.

"What kind of Apocalypse? Cause if Jesus is showing up, then I'm pretty sure I'm fucked over. Four horsemen are going to eat me alive."

Axel let out a bark of laughter. "What about zombie?"

"Assuming it's not zombie Jesus," Roxas says, letting his head fall back. "It depends. I mean, what kind of zombie outbreak is it? Like is it viral or biological warfare?"

"Doesn't matter. You're not a zombie."

Roxas thought about the possibilities. "I'd die. I'd have to looking for Sora to see if he was alive, but I'd probably be wrong and he'd end up eating my brain" Sora had always said he wished he had his brains. "Well, in any apocalyptic setting, your best bet is to find someone else," he added, deciding he didn't much care for the idea of his brother having him for chow time.

"What if they turn on you?"

Roxas frowned at Axel's question, his suggestion striking him as slightly paranoid. "That would suck. But if they didn't, you would have a much higher chance of survival. Humans are social animals, and as such we work better in groups."

"Meh, if the world were to go to shit now, we'd be pretty safe. Middle of nowhere." Axel said with a yawn and, as was the way with yawns, Roxas' soon followed.

A content silence fell upon them, Axel's breathing soft and lulling Roxas back to the exhausted place he had been before. He was faintly aware he should reach for his phone, but it was in his jeans which were lost in the darkness of the front of the car. He was surprised Sora had yet to call, though his brother was probably still pissed off about their earlier conversation.

He should also probably put back on his clothes. Cool air was blowing in through the cracked window, but it felt good against his heated skin. For the same reason he abandoned thoughts of his phone, he abandoned the idea of getting dressed; way too much work.

Besides, his brother nor his clothes were a concern in the stillness of the dark backseat, he could spare a few more minutes dozing here with Axel.. Nothing mattered, except Axel breathing gently on his chest. He found himself smiling as darkness tugged at his consciousness.

-o-

Consciousness started to filter into his sleep and the chill of the air over his bare skin caused him to shiver. He felt the weight on his chest shift then lift up, baring more of his naked body to the cold.

"Ugh, can't feel my arm," Axel groaned. Roxas' eyes opened heavily to him popping his neck then shaking his right arm.

Roxas' own limbs ached and he tried to stretch as much as the cramped backseat would allow, but it did little to ease his discomfort. He allowed himself to relax again, laughing a little as he watched Axel shake his numb arm.

"It's not fucking funny, it fucking hurts." Axel's voice was hateful but Roxas only laughed louder. "Shut the fuck up." Axel glowered and flexed his right hand. Getting the idea, Roxas bit back his humor, but was far to sleepy to to take offence.

"Sorry," he said, but still smiled lightly.

Axel closed his eyes and looked away. "Yeah, whatever."

Roxas' smile fizzled under Axel's anger and a frown tugged at his lips. This again. Was he really mad at him cause he had laughed? It was ridiculous. Roxas was laying under him with nothing but socks on; he was in no position to laugh at anyone, not maliciously anyways.

Axel started to move off of him, but Roxas reached up to grab his right arm, holding him in place. Axel looked like he was going to pull away but Roxas held fast, raising up while pulling Axel down so their lips met softly.

"I'm sorry. I really wasn't laughing at you." He looked at Axel's right arm, then back up. "Well, I was, but I didn't mean anything by it." He kissed him again. It took a moment before Axel warmed up, but when he started to move his lips, Roxas took the opportunity to deepen it. The kiss remained slow and lazy and Roxas could feel himself growing aroused again.

Maybe they could, just one more time, before he had to go home...

Roxas jerked away, letting out a strangled yell. He roughly pushed Axel away to clamor around the front seat for wherever his pants had landed.

"What is it?" Axel asked. Roxas ignored him and he fumbled to find the pocket where his phone hid.

When he flipped it open to a black screen his heart fell.

"Oh crap.." Roxas pressed the power button, waiting for his service provider's logo to flash across the screen. Axel asked him again and he finally answered with a heavy groan. "My phone's been off."

"Are you going to be in trouble?"

Roxas belayed his answer till his phone loaded and the clock displayed his doom in big bold numbers.

**2:45**

He snapped his phone shut as it started beeping, a black log of messages and voice mail making it's late arrival to his phone. He closed his eyes before slapping his hand to his forehead.

"Yes," he said, "a lot."

To his surprise Axel leaned forward, pressing his lips to Roxas' neck to start a trail down. "Well then. You're already in trouble, no real rush to get home now."

Roxas pulled away to work on gathering his clothes. "No, I really need to go home." He found a shirt but quickly determined it was Axel's. He tossed it at the boy before pulling up his own from the floor. "My dad is going to kill me."

"Yeah, but you aren't going to be any more dead 2 hours from now," Axel argued, but relented enough to pull on his shirt. Roxas didn't bother to fight his position, getting the feeling that any arguments for feigning respect for parental authority was going to fall on deaf ears. He decided to ignore the comment and continued to work on his clothes.

Axel crawled into the driver seat and it was a few minutes before Roxas finally shoved his feet into his shoes to join him in the front. The two said nothing as Axel started up the car, but the hostility coming from Axel was stifling and cold. Frustration welled up and he had to bite back the urge to snap at the other boy. They had sex, what more did Axel want from him?

He remained sullen as he watched Axel maneuver the car to turn around in the driveway and head to the road. He tried to watch Axel's expression but the dashbord lights were too dim to make out his face. It felt like his puppy had grown into a hateful pit bull, growling at him from the other side of a fence.

"I had fun, tonight," he tentatively offered. He could make out Axel glancing at him before looking back to the narrow road.

"Yeah, me too." Axel's voice was timid. Encouraged, Roxas continued.

"Do you wanna try and do something later this week?"

"Do you want to?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I have no idea what's gonna happen when I get home but I do wanna see you again." Even in the dark he could feel Axel relax, the air's chill becoming more because of the cracked window then the driver.

"Well, I mean, it's not like we don't have first period together."

Roxas looked at Axel sharply. "We have chemistry together?" he gasped. Since when? He tried to recall red hair and a creepy stare, but his memory came up blank. Actually, of the 20 something students in the class, Roxas probably knew 8 of them by name and until yesterday he didn't even remember Axel's name was anything more then "That weird friend of Hayner's brother."

"Yeah, but not like I'm there most the time. Too fucking early."

That explained it, but Roxas still found himself mentally slapping himself for not remembering. How hard was it to miss bright red hair? At least now he knew and would have something to look forward to every day. Even if his father killed him, he would be sent to school with toe tag and all. Though Olette and Pence shared the class, which brought up a whole new set of problems.

His friends were not going to like Axel and his closest friend, Hayner, would lead the lynch mob. Just randomly announcing they were involved would be, not just the end of his life, but his social life. He had seen what had happened when Paine had taken up with Lexaeus. Even Yuna don't talk to her any more.

If he wanted to keep seeing Axel, he would have to do it in secret. It would be impossible to keep the truth from Sora, but he could keep him from talking. If any one else found out, though, it would spell the end of the world.

He griped the seat belt, and took a deep breath. How was he going to do this? Surly it would be in Axel's best interest to keep it quiet. He could only guess Axel's friends didn't like Roxas any more then Roxas' friends liked Axel, if for anything more then association but Axel's volatile moods didn't really encourage him to breach the subject.

"I think..." He started as he watched Axel turn the car onto the main road that would lead to town, and his house. Dread was like iron in his stomach but he steeled himself to push the subject. "I think it might be a good idea to keep this between us for now."

"Okay."

"I mean, it's just that..." Roxas paused mid excuse, turning to Axel in surprise. "It's okay?" He studied the older boy carefully, trying to determine if there was some concealed resentment but Axel shrugged.

"Whatever. I don't really give a fuck about your friends, but I'm already ready to ram Hayner's head through a wall and the less time I have to deal with your little parasites the better. You know, they have shampoos for that shit."

Roxas huffed, a defense of his friends at the tip of his tongue but he bit it. "They aren't so bad," he settled with, but willingly let it drop. If Axel didn't want to deal with his friends then it made Roxas' position even easier.

He gave Axel instructions to his house, and all to soon they were pulling up to the quaint two story house Roxas called home. Knowing what he had to face, it loomed even more ominous then the old shack had. He turned back to Axel to see that puppy look on his face. He smiled softly at him before leaning forward. Axel met him midway for a soft lingering kiss that left Roxas' lips burning for more.

"I'll try and call you tomorrow," he promised.

"Tomorrow."

Roxas gave him a smile before he pushed the car door open, slipping into the cool night. He lifted his hand, waving slightly as Axel pulled away. He stood on the sidewalk till he could no longer see the red tail lights driving away.

-o-

((**AN **Ah, poor Zexion. He'll get more attention later, don't worry..  
I'm not going to give any excuses other then I suck. Only 2 years for less then 9k words, right? I've poured over this chapter about 20 times with nearly 2 full revisions. Much thanks for West Side for all the wonderful bondage sessions of Beta'ing she gave. I was pretty out of shape when I started this but its 100xs better then what I initially wrote. Also thanks to my lovely Boyfriend who has had to listen to me talk about Yaoi for three months now, though he will never read this feel the need to stress how amazing he is.  
And extra thanks to the readers and reviewers for your epic patience and reviews. You guys are the best. ))


	5. Bad Karma

Roxas had taken time pulling out his key as he got a story together. By the time he reached the door he was confident in the fabricated series of events that had left him unable to be contacted and very very late. He'd never intended to worry his father, and would be profusely sorry, and would swear to never do it again.

He'd expected anger however he hadn't actually been ready to face it.

Cloud greeted him as soon as the door opened, arms crossed and a stern look that left Roxas feeling two inches tall.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

Roxas winced at the sharp language. His moral drained and he fidgeted under the scrutiny as he tried to gather himself enough to explain.

"I was with a friend..."

_He__'__d__lost__track__of__time__... __lost__his__phone__... __spent__hours__trying__to__find__it__._

His story crumbled before he could even finish.

"Sit down," Cloud ordered, pointing into the kitchen table and Roxas dropped his head, moving to do as told. It occurred to him only then that the truth was the best idea.

"I went on a date."

"Then why did you lie to me about why you had to go to the mall?"

"I... I didn't think you'd be too happy about taking me to meet a guy for a date." Roxas braved a glance up to watch something close to guilt flash over his father's face.

Keeping the truth from Sora had been more important, but if his father were a little more accepting of his son's sexuality than Roxas wouldn't have been inclined to lie about who he was going to see. Of course, this was all the design of hindsight. He hadn't even considered it when he first asked his father for a ride.

"And the reason why you don't show up till 4 in the morning? Why you weren't answering your phone?"

"I didn't know my phone was off. I turned it off when we went to the movie, but I guess I forgot."

Cloud lifted his hands, running them over his face. "Roxas, do you have any idea how irresponsible this is? You go off with someone no one knows you're with, turn your phone off, lie to your brother, lie to me, and walk in hours past your curfew?"

"But I'm fine!"

"You're 14! You can't just disappear without telling anyone what you're doing! God knows what could have happened!"

"I'll be 15 in like two weeks, I'm responsible enough to take care of myself!"

"After tonight, I seriously doubt that."

Roxas looked away.

"Who is this person you went out with?"

Roxas paused a moment before he answered. "His name's Axel."

"And how old are they?" His father said _they_in an even tone, but it buzzed irritably in his ear.

"_He_," Roxas snapped, "is 16." He challenged his father to try to play the game where he danced around his son's sexuality. Roxas wasn't going to humor him.

"And they go to your school?"

"Yes, _he_ does." Roxas grit his teeth, leaning forward in a challenge. "_His_ name is Axel, _he_ is 16 and _he_ is a guy."

He wanted his dad to keep pushing it. He'd been skittish on the topic since Roxas' "coming out"-burst a year ago. He couldn't remember what started that particular fight, only that it ended with him, spitefully, telling his father he was gay. While his dad had never shown signs of bigotry, it had been awkward to accept. At first he doubted Roxas, questioning if he was old enough to decide something like that, but when Roxas had been steadfast he started to dodge it all together. Roxas hoped shoving it down his throat would cause the whole thing to be dropped out of frustration.

"Did you have sex?"

Roxas let out an indignant sound at the question, his jaw dropping. "What?" He sputtered in anger.

"I know what 14 - 15," Cloud corrected, "and 16 year old boys want to do with their time."

"Yeah, you do."

"I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did."

"Like me and Sora?" His dad started to object, but Roxas continued. "Yeah, still gay, don't really have to worry about that."

"That isn't what I mean, and you know it."

Roxas did know, but bitterness didn't stop him from spitting the words. He felt like he had gone too far but wasn't willing to apologize.

"Roxas, you know..." Cloud paused mid-sentence and Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know," he said softly.

There was a long silence before Cloud finally spoke. "Three weeks." When Roxas looked at him, confused, he explained. "You're grounded for three weeks."

"What?" Roxas, outraged, stood up, his chair scraping over the tile loudly. "Three weeks? That's crazy! I haven't ever done anything before!"

Cloud held out his hand. "And your phone."

He pulled back as if expecting to be hit. The idea of being grounded was bad enough but being disconnected from the world, his friends – from Axel, was frightening.

"You can't take my phone! Please, dad. Anything but my phone. I can't live without it!"

"You should have thought about that before you turned it off today." He waved his fingers at Roxas, waiting for him to hand it over. Roxas let out a frustrated growl before pulling it out of his pocket to slam on the table, intentionally not placing it in his father's hand.

"So, I'm going to be grounded for my birthday?"

"We'll see," Cloud said, reaching for the phone. "Now get to bed."

Roxas rolled his eyes again, pushing away from the table.. He made it to the doorway when Cloud spoke.

"And Roxas..."

"Whatever," he said before storming out to head to his room.

There had been a brief moment, as Roxas began to wake up, when everything had been a dream, his mind swimming with the still vivid memories of a back seat and bright red hair. As light drifted into his waking state a dread twisted his stomach painfully as reality became clearer.

Three weeks was unreasonable.

Sora had let slip to Hayner that he was mad, which would probably cause Hayner to get mad.

Sora was probably mad.

And then there was Zexion.

It was only just past 7 and Roxas hadn't gotten much sleep at all. The confrontation with his father had his brain spinning until he had finally just blacked out in his bed.

Three weeks. Without his phone. Without his friends...

Without Axel.

He wanted more. If he closed his eyes he could still see the other teen, leaning over him, kissing him. His skin burned and body ached for more.

Sex was the greatest thing in the world.

He gnawed on his lip as a familiar throbbing strained against the weight of the covers. He pushed it into a more comfortable position. He would have to figure out a way around his dad, but he didn't care to do any thinking with an erection demanding his attention.

He wanted Axel but he would just have to make due for now.

Damage control was in order, and his brother would be the best place to start. As soon as he was done with his shower and dressed, he had made his way to the living room.

Sora was sitting on the couch idly flipping through channels, stopping long enough for a commercial to come on before changing it again. Roxas didn't miss the glare that was shot at him.

"Hey..." Roxas started, but Sora snapped, not letting him finish.

"I'm not going to buy into that guilt crap you fed dad last night."

Roxas sighed heavily, lifting his hand to his face. He should have known Sora would have eavesdropped. "So you heard."

"Yes, I heard. I especially liked the deflection." Sora spat bitterly, "That was Classic Roxas, right there. You've done something wrong so remind everyone else of their own faults." His eyes remained glued on the now stationary channel and Roxas could see his jaw grinding. He moved to plop down on the other side of the couch, careful to keep distance.

"I'm sorry.." He said softly, keeping his eyes on his brother.

"How dare you bring Riku into this. Dad was furious until I managed to explain to him Riku didn't know anything."

"I'm sorry," he said again, careful not to sneer at the mention of his brother's best friend. "I just really didn't want to tell you about..."

"Axel?" Sora interrupted. "What the heck, Roxas? Is that what he wanted on Friday?" Roxas nodded and Sora threw his hands in the air, falling back to the couch. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to be ragged about it. I thought I was going to be able to go with Axel and make it with time to spare. I didn't count on..." he trailed off. He really didn't count on anything happening like it did.

"On what?"

Roxas shrugged, slouching into the plush couch. "Having fun."

"Why couldn't you have told me? I could have covered for you!" Sora's rage eased into something more pitiful.

"I'm sorry, I just freaked out when he asked me. I said yes and felt bad about backing out. So I went, fully expecting him to get bored with me and just take me home but..." Roxas shrugged. A lot of things happened and Roxas wasn't sure if he could even finish the sentence without gushing about Axel. "I had fun and just lost track of time."

Sora snorted. "Well, I'm glad you had fun because thanks to your little stunt my curfew is now 8. He made me come home last night when he couldn't get a hold of you and..." he glanced in the direction of the stairs before lowering his voice and leaning forward. "I had been drinking. If he had of smelled it on me more than just you and me would have been in trouble."

"What? What the fuck were you doing drinking?" His words were sharper than intended, but drinking just wasn't something Sora did. He acted strange, to say the least, and Roxas usually had to chain him down.

"What the fuck were you doing with Axel?" Sora spat back at him, his words slapping Roxas enough to gain a physical reaction. He could count on his fingers how many times Sora had dropped the f bomb. While Hayner had polluted Roxas' vocabulary with profanity, Sora much more conservative.

"I'm sorry..."

"I just wish you had told me." Sora's voice was pleading this time. "Axel is a creep."

"He's not that bad."

"Whatever. This is all bad karma."

"Maybe, but I would _like_ for you to keep it a secret.."

"Bad karma."

"Please, Sora." Roxas lifted his hands up pleadingly, "Please just keep it quiet."

Sora frowned at Roxas, looking like he might deny the request before he shook his head. "Fine."

Roxas tried to force a defusing smile, but Sora's expression remained cross.

"Did you have sex?"

There was that question, once again spoken because his judgment wasn't trusted. Roxas blinked at Sora, his face blank before he took a deep breath. He really should just lie about this. Just look him in the eyes and lie. Sora didn't want to know the truth.

But no lie came. He pulled back, leaning into the couch, staring directly at the TV. It was all the answer Sora needed.

"I can't believe you! What the...!" Sora cried out, burying his hands in his hair. "You don't even know where he's been!"

"We used a condom..." Roxas spoke softly. He sank farther into the couch, fighting off the sudden onslaught of nausea. Sora was right, but Roxas couldn't find it in himself to really regret anything, only guilty that he'd gotten caught. Sora scoffed at him before tossing the remote down

"This is all really stupid."

"What are you going to tell Riku?"

"I'm not lying to Riku but he won't tell anyone."

Irritation at Riku and Sora's relationship was building like bile, however, Riku had usually did whatever Sora wanted so, trusting his brother to keep his friend under control, Roxas let it drop. He didn't want to talk about Riku, not to Sora, not to anyone.

"I really don't know why you and Riku have to hate each other so much." Sora stood up abruptly, moving to the stairs to leave Roxas sulking on the couch alone.

He would like Riku a lot more if he turned up dead, but he kept that thought to himself.

Talking to Hayner was less productive than talking to a wall; at least walls couldn't walk away.

"It's just not like you to lie about something like that," Olette told him in chemistry as she pulled out her textbook.

"I know," he said softly, "I just didn't want to make Sora upset about the fight I had with Dad."

She looked at him, her green eyes wide with empathy. Roxas' perfectly manicured lie had been so easy to feed her it left him with a hollow relief where guilt should have been growing.

She nodded, reaching out to pat his arm. "I'll talk to him. I'm sure he'll understand, though I don't get why you didn't just come by anyways. I would have been happy to at least talk to you about it."

He shook his head at this, ducking enough to hide his face. "I just needed to be alone."

She nodded sympathetically and he thought she might say something else on the subject, but she only opened her book and gave a grave groan.

"So, I'm pretty sure I'm going to bomb chemistry."

"You'll be fine, I'll help you."

"Yeah, well, we'll just see how much God hates me when finals come around," she grumbled as she pulled out several folders and started flipping through papers.

Significantly more relaxed about his life he sat back in his chair while Olette busied herself with neglected weekend homework. Left to his thoughts he found himself watching the door as students came in, one by one, an anxious mixture swirling in his belly. He wanted to see Axel again, he wanted to talk to Axel, he wanted to do a lot of things with Axel, actually, but for now he would settle on just seeing him.

Axel walked in no more than a second before the tardy bell rang. The mixture exploded, filling him with warm fuzzy feelings. He's cheeks ached to smile and he had to bite his lip to keep down his sudden surge of joy. He was not a teenage girl, he shouldn't feel so damn giddy.

For a brief second their eyes met, and Roxas held his breath as blood rushed hot to his face and memories of sex danced in his mind. When Axel passed him without pause, disappointment hit him so painfully he could have cried.

"Oh yeah..." Olette leaned over to him. "Kairi told me about what happened on Friday with Axel. He didn't do anything to you did he?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. What was everyone's problem? Did they think Axel had beaten him up and taken his wallet? "Nothing happened. He got nervous and changed his mind."

"Oh." The disappointment was obvious. Roxas got the feeling she would have been more interested in being told they had stolen away to the janitor's closet and had wild passionate sex.

"I beeet he has a cruuuush on yooooou," she sing-songed, "But he's kinda weird. I bet he's got cooties."

Roxas slouched in his seat, grabbing his own book to distract himself from the well of irritation her words sparked. He had the urge to speak up and defend Axel but chose to keep silent instead.

Roxas had taken care of Olette, who would hopefully handle Hayner and the rest of their friends, but he had to wait till third period to deal with the last loose end.

Zexion had been easy to shrug off Saturday but surrounded by their peers he posed a greater threat to Roxas' plans. While he was pretty sure Zexion's friends were limited to the mice in the library - real mice, not a euphemism - he had been known to ask really random and deeply personal questions out of the blue within earshot of other people.

It was a risk he couldn't afford.

When Roxas took his seat in the far back corner of the sparsely populated room he was hardly surprised to see Zexion make his way to the seat in front of his.

He didn't beat around the bush, he didn't ask about homework or any other small talk. He turned in the seat to face Roxas, opened his mouth and bluntly spoke.

"Are you going out with Axel Lea?"

It was exactly the question he was afraid of. As prepared as he had tried to be, the sudden roast caused him to panic and check the other students, but the few others in the class were chatting loudly about something unrelated.

Lie. He should just lie. There was no guilt involved with lying to Weido Zexion. He wouldn't even have to follow through with it.

"_..__it__had__the__whole__feel__of__ '__I__masturbate__to__you__in__the__shower__." _Axel's voice echoed in his mind.

Or maybe...

"Yeeessss..." He said slowly, testing the word as if it would cause something to explode. The word flowed smoothly off his tongue and hope sparked inside his chest that the truth really would set him free, at least from one freak. It gave him the strength to keep his head high even as he waited for an inevitable onslaught of questions.

"Oh," Zexion said simply before turning in his seat to the front of the room.

Roxas tapped his fingers on his desk, more disturbed by the lack of questions then he would have expected.

_"__He__probably__has__a__thing__for__you__."_

The same pain of sympathy that had edged Roxas on to tell Axel "yes" on Friday swelled up in his chest. Zexion looked liked Roxas had kicked him, crushing his ribs and hopes in one word.

"Hey look..." Roxas tested, leaning forward. "I don't want anyone to know about him so.. if you could just..."

Zexion turned back with a small, but awkward, smile tightly plastered to his face.

"Ok."

Zexion was like an abandoned kitten stuck in a box on a rainy city street corner. Until Friday Roxas had only known of one other homosexual student, and he'd stuffed himself in the closet.

Unable to help himself, and wanting Zexion to turn back around, he asked the question he already knew the answer to.

"Are you gay?" It was low enough to escape the range of any one else but Zexion's ears. The other boy spun around in his seat with all the horror of a criminal caught in the act.

"Look, it's okay. I'm not exactly against it," Roxas joked. Zexion looked around the room quickly.

"I'm not..." there was a pause and Roxas expected him to deny the question. Zexion opened his mouth twice before leaning forward, his voice so low Roxas had to strain to hear. "I think.. sometimes... maybe..." He said softly before finishing in a rush. "My parents would kill me if they thought..." The fear in Zexion's voice forced a frown to tug at Roxas' face, brows furrowed with concern.

He pitied Zexion. He didn't know anything about the other's family or what it was like to have homophobic parents but he could empathize. Roxas' father might not be happy with his son's sexuality, but Roxas wasn't scared of him.

Roxas nodded, both to Zexion and his own personal decision. "Are you busy Thursday? After school?"

Zexion shifted in his seat, looking at Roxas doubtfully. Roxas only looked back at him with new set determination.

"I guess not."

"We have a test Friday, right? Come to my house and study." He was grounded, but there was no way his dad would say no to something like this. At least he hoped.

"Um, sure." Zexion still sounded somewhat doubtful but Roxas smiled brightly, suddenly very excited. "I'd give you my number but I'm not really allowed to get phone calls."

"I'll give you mine..." oh yeah, no cellphone, "My house number, my cell got taken away." He ripped a piece of paper from his notebook to scribble the digits on.

"Why?"

"I didn't get home till 4 Sunday morning," he admitted with a snort. Zexion made an _O_with his lips, but asked no other questions. When Roxas handed him the paper, Zexion gazed down at the scrawled numbers with a sort of awe.

Roxas felt good about this decision, as though the good deed of befriending Zexion would make up for the lies he had both told and would undoubtedly have to tell to cover up his relationship with Axel.

As the thought of Axel crossed his mind, his stomach dropped as he remembered their brief eye contact. He needed to talk to him. He wanted to see him. And oh, how Roxas wanted...

Roxas bit his lip, feeling the familiar rise of blood pressure between his legs. He needed to get a message to Axel. He looked at Zexion like the glorious untapped resource he was.

"Um, Also... Can you do me a favor?"

Zexion looked up at him, his entire demeanor brighter then Roxas had ever seen. "Sure! Anything!"

"I have to finish something in chemistry, cover for me with dad?"

Sora gave Roxas a scathing look before slamming his locker closed. "Chemistry? Really?"

Roxas recoiled defensively at his brother's tone.

"Well, I mean.. It's in the chemistry lab... so I kinda am..." Roxas flashed a tight smile, but Sora only frowned harder. "With him, yes. Please, Sora. I won't be long, I promise!"

Sora huffed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, but karma, Roxas, karma."

Roxas let out a quiet cheer, reaching out to shake Sora's shoulders in his excited gratitude. "Yeah yeah, bad karma, gotcha, I totally owe you."

"You have no idea but whatever. Have fun. Just..." Sora started to say then shook his head and waved his hand dismissively before walking away. "Never mind."

Roxas watched him leave with a sour feeling in his stomach but pushed it away with a shake of his head. Sora'd never been able to stay angry for any long period of time, besides, he'd make it up to his brother somehow.

He had just turned down the science hall when he heard a familiar voice call his name. He spun on heel, momentarily scared that he'd somehow got caught sneaking away to meet Axel.

Olette was in sweats and a bright purple basketball emblem on the chest and he guessed she was on her way to practice. "Hey, Roxas.. I was wondering if there was any way you can help me in Chem after school."

Roxas nervously glanced down the hall, half expecting Axel to be standing there waiting on him before he answered. "I can't right now.. I have.. something..." he clamored for some sort of excuse but she interrupted.

"It's fine, I have practice now, and I'll have to talk to the captain but If I don't get at least a C I'm going to be benched."

"I didn't realize your grade was so bad."

"It's abysmal, and I've missed two labs so I'm pretty much SOL without you." She bounced, clasping her hands in a pleading manor. "I asked Pence, but he's working at his dad's store and doesn't have the time."

Roxas nodded, wanting to help her but also wanting to dismiss her so he could meet Axel. "Yeah, sure. Tomorrow?"

She bound forward, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you so much! I owe you big." He returned the hug briefly but pushed her away as quickly as he politely could.

"Of course, any time."

She gushed her thanks one last time before bounding down the hall and out of sight.

He was relieved to find the door both unlocked and the class room empty, but equally disappointed at the lack of Axel. Making his way to one of the lab tables he pulled out his textbook, opening it as if he had a real reason for being there.

For several minutes the ticking of the clock was only interrupted by sound of turning pages and soft sighs. Had Zexion gotten to talk to Axel, he started to wonder, abusing his lip with his teeth. Or what if Axel really _was_mad? What if he'd changed his mind about the whole thing? And where was the teacher, anyways? He looked at the clock. He'd half-hazardly planned everything out when he'd told Zexion to tell Axel to meet him in their shared chemistry class, which mostly involved convincing the teacher he needed to finish homework. Of course without a teacher to explain it to or and Axel to grope, he was pretty much just waiting like an idiot.

While the clock claimed ten minutes, Roxas felt as though it had been three times that when Axel finally pushed the door open. Roxas straightened at the sight, a smile taking over his face but it quickly withered as the taller frame of Mr Vexen came in behind him.

"See," Axel explained to the teacher while motioning at Roxas. "Roxas here is going to help me do just that."

The teacher narrowed his eyes at Roxas as if he doubted the story and Roxas's own went wide at being drug in mid-conversation, but he quickly caught on and nodded, agreeing with whatever Axel had been saying.

"Yeah, he asked me earlier."

"Well then," Mr Vexen said, his voice just a hair away from a sneer, "I'll get you a list of all your missed assignments. I'm leaving shortly but you may use the classroom."

Roxas met Axel's eyes with a _What__just__happened__?_ look. Axel only shrugged his answer before following the teacher to his desk. After a few seconds of writing he held out a piece of paper. Axel took it, though looked it over as if it would give him the plague if he took it seriously.

"Thanks," Axel said unenthusiastically as he made his way over to the lab table Roxas occupied.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" Roxas directed to the teacher. He turned to regard the two with an exhausted look but nodded.

"If it means Axel will be doing some of his missing work, then yes."

Roxas shifted awkwardly. "It's actually for Olette."

"Well, that as well," he said smartly, "You can help both of them."

Horror struck Roxas like a truck and he gaped like a fish. There could have been no worse idea...

"I'll give you extra credit for the effort."

"Okay." The word came out before he had even the chance to consider otherwise. Sora used the term overachiever like it was a derogatory term, but Roxas liked to think he was just invested in his future. The words _extra__credit_ invoked an instant _yes__please_response.

"Well then, I'll be here all week until six so you can work on all those labs," Vexen said with distaste, as if there were hundreds of labs to do. Roxas inwardly winced at his own hasty decision.

_Well__, __fucking__ ..._

Roxas's shoulders slouched as the weight of what he'd just agreed to was dropped on him. He was screwed. Boned. And not by Axel.

He looked around the room as if trying to find something to stab himself in the face with when his eyes fell on Axel's list.

"Do you want to work on that?" he asked softly.

"Not really." Axel shrugged, eyes on the teacher. Roxas watched him as well and they must have looked somewhat suspicious because he met their gazes a deep frown.

"You don't have to wait for me to leave to start."

Both of them jumped, Roxas reaching forward to grab the discarded paper. The list of missed work was intimidating, leaving Roxas to wonder if Axel had managed to get anything done at all.

He started to flip through his textbook then pulled out a pen and paper from his bag, sitting both in front of Axel. "Copy down the first question."

A displeased grunt was expelled from Axel and he rolled his eyes, but he put forth no other argument and leaned against the table to do as he was told.

"I suck at chemistry," he grumbled as he transcribed the question into nearly illegible handwriting.

"I'm surprised since you seem to have not even started," Roxas joked.

"Too fucking early in the morning."

"Mr. Lea..." the teacher warned.

"Sorry..." Axel said unapologetic. "Anyways..." he trailed off as he finished writing the question. Roxas made sure the teacher wasn't looking before flipping back a few pages to point at the line Axel needed to copy to have the answer.

Even though Mr. Vexen had claimed he would need to leave soon he took his time. Roxas kept glancing back with barely contained impatience as he pointed at the textbook answers to the questions.

"So, no call yesterday?" Axel asked in a hushed tone.

"Sorry, Dad took my phone and I don't have your number anywhere else."

"Your dad actually took your phone?"

"Yeah, said I clearly didn't know how to use it. I'm grounded for the next three weeks."

"Ahh, that's why you wanted to meet here."

"Yeah, he won't say anything if school work is involved."

"Think you can sneak out tonight?"

Roxas paused at the suggestion, the mere idea sneaking out on a Monday night should have been ridiculous, never mind doing it while grounded. But still, Axel was the one asking...

"Maybe..."

Axel leaned in closer, his eyes scanning over Roxas suggestively. "Come on, you're already grounded, might as well have fun..." his voice all but purred the word, leaving Roxas with a clear image of just what Axel was thinking.

Deep within himself he admitted that sex was probably the driving force in his decision.

"What time?"

"Midnight? I'll meet you at your place."

Roxas agreed with the plan with a nod of his head. He had no idea how he was going to do it, but he would figure something out.

The sound of the door opening ripped Roxas' attention away from Axel, and he stumbled back abruptly as Tidus pushed open the door, his blond head popping in to address teacher.

"Coach wanted to know if you were done with the projector."

"I'm not exactly lecturing at the moment," Vexen motioned at a cart near the door, "Take it on."

Tidus pushed on through the door and Roxas found himself frozen in place, watching helplessly Tidus turned to see them.

"Hey, Rox.. what are you doing here?"

_With__Axel_, Roxas mentally finished. Realizing that he and Axel were still fairly close he took a step back. Before he could think up an excuse Mr Vexen spoke for him.

"They're doing homework, Mr. Zanarkand. Perhaps you and your C minus should join them."

Tidus blanched at the teacher and ducked his head, grabbing the projector's cart. "Maybe another time." And before Mr. Vexen had the chance to say anything else he was out the door.

Roxas released a sigh before moving back next to Axel to continue with the homework. It wasn't much longer before Mr. Vexen finally finished what he was doing and pulled his things together.

"I'm locking the door behind me, so don't leave unless you really want to leave." And after he spent a few seconds fighting with the doorknob he was gone, leaving Roxas locked in a classroom with Axel.

"Fina-fucking-ly." Axel exclaimed before reaching out to hook a finger on belt loop to pull Roxas closer, Roxas similarly reaching to wrap his arms around Axel's neck. Their lips crashed together in a semi-messy kiss, unconcerned for where they were. Axel pushed Roxas back, forcing him against a counter. Their tongues wrapped around each other, and, after only a brief pause for Roxas to hop onto the counter, their crotches rubbed together in painful bliss.

Something clattered loudly to the floor, but neither boy made a motion to see what it was. Roxas was finally getting what he had wanted since their parting after the date. Forget his karma doom speaking brother, his unreasonable father, and the ridiculous social standards his friends set. When it was him and Axel, just like this, the rest of the world was on hold.

Roxas buried his hands in red locks, gripping them tightly as Axel's lips made a trail down his jaw to his neck. Cool fingers pushed up his shirt, trailing along the waistband of his pants and Roxas shifted just so to give Axel better access to the front.

This was probably a bad idea. Not Axel, of course because, by God, this did not feel wrong, but letting Axel into his pants in the middle of the science lab probably wasn't going to win him any smart kid awards. Even as the thought still echoed in his mind his own hands were tugging at Axel's pants.

A loud banging was like cold water and Roxas pulled away, eyes jerking to the door. Had someone seen them through the glass? His fears were allayed by the sight of paper over the door window, but the knocking was accompanied by the voice of his twin.

"Roxas! I know you're in there."

Roxas groaned his frustration before slipping off the counter, fixing his pants. He gave Axel an apologetic look before making his way to the door. He opened it, but only just enough to poke his head out.

"What?" He hissed at Sora, who looked as annoyed as Roxas felt.

"Dad said you had to come home."

"Did you tell him I was doing something for class?" Roxas snapped.

"I told him you had to stay after school and I didn't know why. He wants you to come home." Sora crossed his arms and Roxas narrowed his eyes.

"So, he doesn't care that I'm doing school work." A statement, and Roxas grew agitated at both the words he put in his father's mouth, and at Sora for not backing him up. He was mostly pissed he was getting cockblocked.

Sora rolled his eyes. "You aren't exactly here for that are you?" He accused. Before Roxas could open his mouth to say the first spiteful thing he could, Sora continued in a softer voice. "Look, he just wants you to ask him first."

Roxas growled, pulling away from the door, leaving Sora to catch it or let it slam in his face. "I would if I could call him..." He turned back to the table his stuff was on, giving Axel his most sincere look.

"12?" he mouthed so that Sora couldn't see him. Axel smirked, lifting an eyebrow.

"You got it." Axel's voice held just the right about of sex that Roxas had to bite his lip to keep from jumping him. He couldn't wait.

He shoved his book in his bag before shouldering the strap. "Later.." he said before moving back to his brother. He looked at Sora, glaring with all his worth.

"This is so unfair," he said before turning away.

Sora snorted. "I can't help but wonder who's actually being unfair."

Sora's silence on the walk home make Roxas itch to slap him. As soon as they entered the house Sora made an angry bee line for the stairs, undoubtedly to go into his pigsty and wallow.

Roxas paid him no mind as he turned to the kitchen, giving his father a _well__, __here__I__am_look.

"I told you to come home right after school," Cloud said as he closed a pizza box on the table. A staple food in their house, as none of them actually knew how to cook anything more complicated then eggs and toast, and that was only because they knew how to cook eggs in the microwave.

"I wasn't done with school, that's why I hadn't came home," he snipped, moving to look at dinner. He made a displeased face at the green pepper laced meal but grabbed a slice anyways.

"You should have told me."

"I told Sora to tell you. I didn't realise I needed to stay till today." He avoided direct eye contact by busying himself with decontamination. "Not like I could have just called you."

"You physically not having your cell phone doesn't inhibit your ability to make a phone call."

Roxas wanted to bite back with something hateful, but he took a breath, mentally conceding that he still needed his father's approval for some things, and being an ass only caused him to respond in kind.

"Sorry..." he managed to mutter before picking at a piece sausage to stuff in his mouth. He finally braved a look to his dad, who was leaning against the counter rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I just need you to get where I'm coming from, Roxas." Cloud dropped his hand to look at him. "Please, just give me something to work with."

"Sorry." Roxas repeated, this time with more force. "It's just.. being grounded kind of restricts my ability to do school stuff. I'm probably going to need to stay after for the rest of the week, maybe some next week."

Cloud nodded slowly, "and what are you doing? What class is this for?"

"Chemistry" Roxas replied. He would just be honest - he was doing nothing wrong, at least where there were witnesses. "I'm helping a friend."

"A friend?" And there was the doubt that Cloud had been leading up to. Roxas tried to not wince and shurged.

"You can ask Mr. Vexen if you don't believe me." Though he doubted his father would ever actually talk to any of his teachers without one of them requesting first.

"Who's this friend? Do I know them?"

Roxas mentally groaned at how invasive his father was suddenly being. Never before had he been drilled about saying he was helping a friend out in a class. He considered just saying it was just Olette, but realized if his dad actually did ask he'd be screwed.

"It's Olette and Axel," he said as if his father already knew. The steely look his dad responded with made him instantly regret telling the truth and he quickly followed it up. "Both of them need tutoring, and I'm getting extra credit. We were working on it up until Sora came and drug me off."

His words were deliberately phrased to make it sound like Olette had been there. His father gave him a scrutinizing look and Roxas fidgeted under its pressure.

"Um.. also there is a pretty big math test coming up and a friend from my AP class wanted to see if we could study together after school on Thursday."

"And this friend is?"

"You don't know him, his name is Zexion."

Cloud gave a puzzled expression. "You mean the kid who stares at you all the time?"

Roxas blinked in surprise that his father knew about Zexion. He'd complained to Sora, sure, but he just always assumed his dad didn't listen to anything they said.

"Yeah, well... he's not so bad, just a little weird."

"Fine, but you will be studying. And in the living room."

Roxas scowled at his father's lack of trust but nodded in forced gratitude. "Okay... Thanks." His father turned to the few dishes in the sink and Roxas gnawed on his lip. "Does that mean I can help Olette and Axel after school?"

Again another heavy sigh came from the older man as his shoulders slumped. Roxas smiled brightly even before his father gave an answer. "Yeah, I guess."

Perfect. "Thanks Dad, you're the best." Roxas said then grabbed a soda from the fridge.

"Just, Roxas..." Cloud looked at him with an exhausted look. "You're supposed to be learning a lesson here, you know?"

Roxas grabbed his backpack and dinner, wanting to get to his room. He needed to figure out how he was going to sneak out later.

"Yep, I know. Don't lie and don't turn off my phone," he responded as he started to the stairs, already thinking of the night ahead. He'd have to check, but he was pretty sure he could climb down the tree. Getting back in was going to be more complicated.

TBC

********Since****the****last****time****I****updated****this****story****I****have****moved****.. ****twice****... ****and****my****most****awesome****boyfriend****is****now****less****than****two****weeks****away****from****being****my****most****awesome****husband****.**

**This****is****getting****finished****this****year****. ****A****chapter****a****year****is****just****silly****. ****This****was****mostly****done**** 10 ****months****ago****and****the****next****chapter****is****halfway****to****where****I****want****it****.**

**To****people****who****think****they****shouldn****'****t****review****a****story****that****hasn****'****t****been****updated****in****months****, ****you****should****reconsider****. ****Thank****you****to****every****single****person****who****took****time****to****tell****me****your****thoughts****, ****and****thanks****to****everyone****who****is****still****reading****, ****even****if****you****don****'****t****review****.**

**Also****West****Side****is****the****eleventh****muse****. ****I****would****have****her****babies****if****biology****worked****like****that****.****


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